Navigate season transitions — the gap is normal and necessary

The confusion and loss of meaning between seasons is structural, not personal failure.

Why it works

Levinson found that transitions between life stages — typically taking two to five years — are characterized by questioning, disruption, and the dismantling of old structures. During a transition, the old season’s meanings and structures stop working, but the new season’s have not yet formed. People in transitions who interpret this as breakdown rather than transformation often prematurely abort the transition by forcing a return to old structures or leaping to new ones before they are ready.

How to do it

1. Notice if you are in a transition: things that used to work feel hollow, new possibilities are calling but not yet formed, and confusion is common.
2. Name it as a transition rather than a breakdown — the language matters for how you hold the experience.
3. Resist the urge to prematurely resolve the transition by latching onto the first new structure that appears.
4. Allow the transition its full time; identify what is genuinely being left behind and what new possibilities are appearing.

Evidence

Levinson’s research documented transition periods between stages, and the general phenomenon of normative adult transitions (midlife, retirement, etc.) is supported across developmental psychology. (observational)

The two-to-five-year transition claim is from Levinson’s interview methodology, which is not the same as a prospective study. Individual variation is substantial.

Sources

• Levinson (1986), midlife transition in women and men, American Psychologist

Common mistake

Interpreting transition symptoms (loss of direction, questioning of past decisions, new interests that seem "immature") as problems to fix rather than markers of a transition to navigate.