Living Well In-Between ~

The space between Christmas and the New Year has always felt different to me. The rush has passed, the decorations begin to feel tired, and the calendar hesitates before turning the page. It is a pause few people talk about, yet it is a pause many of us feel; a soft, suspended moment where nothing is quite finished and nothing has fully begun.

I find myself here often, not just on the calendar, but in life.

Living in the in-between means waking up without clear answers. It means holding plans loosely, allowing doubt to sit beside hope, and resisting the urge to rush toward resolution simply to feel settled. The world encourages certainty, especially as a new year approaches. Goals are set. Words like clarity, direction, and reinvention float everywhere. And yet, some seasons ask us to remain unfinished.

Nature understands this better than we do.

Winter is the great in-between. The trees are neither dead nor blooming. The soil looks empty, yet everything necessary for spring is quietly forming beneath the surface. Nothing is rushing. Nothing is proving itself. The land rests because rest is part of becoming.

I am learning to let myself do the same.

There is a temptation, especially now, to believe that living well means having a plan ready by January 1st. That worth is measured by momentum. But living well in the in-between asks something gentler of us. It asks us to stay present where we are, even when where we are feels undefined.

For me, this means allowing questions to exist without answers. It means trusting that not knowing where I belong physically does not mean I don’t belong at all. It means reminding myself that worth is not delayed until clarity arrives.

On juliemlane.com, I’ve been writing from this place of uncertainty—not to resolve it, but to honor it. Spaces like @redeem_thyself and @7_pedals echo this same truth: that growth doesn’t always look like forward motion. Sometimes it looks like stillness, reflection, and quiet courage.

Listening to stories shared through Redeeming Stories has reinforced this for me. Again and again, I hear voices describing the same threshold—standing between who they were and who they are becoming. Not lost. Just in transit.

As the new year approaches, I’m choosing not to rush myself across this bridge. I’m choosing to walk it slowly, noticing what remains, what falls away, and what feels ready to be carried forward.

Living well in the in-between doesn’t require answers. It requires presence. It requires trust. It requires kindness toward ourselves as we stand in seasons that don’t yet have names.

If you find yourself here, too—between years, between decisions, between versions of yourself—know this: the in-between is not wasted time. It is fertile ground.

And something new is already forming.

As the year closes, you might ask yourself: What am I being asked to release before I step forward? What is allowed to remain unfinished?

You don’t need to answer now, but you may if you wish. And, some questions are simply meant to walk with us into the new year.

~ julie

If you feel so inclined, please reply with your thoughts.

Note: JM Lane is NOT a mental health professional, nor does she carry a license to practice medicine. Posts, blogs, and content are based on JM Lane’s personal experiences, perceptions, and reflections. By no means does any material convey what others should or should not do.