Nora Bennett, LCSWHow to sit with a big life change
In brief
Even the changes we choose can knock the wind out of us. A few gentle thoughts on grief, thresholds, and finding your footing when the ground shifts.
Big transitions have a strange way of grieving us, even when they're good. A new baby, a new city, a new job, the end of a relationship — each one asks us to let go of a version of life we knew how to live. It makes sense to feel unmoored. You're not doing it wrong.
Two things can be true
You can be excited and terrified. Relieved and heartbroken. Grateful and lost. Transitions rarely hand us one clean feeling; they hand us a tangle. Part of the work is simply making room for all of it, without rushing to tidy it up.
The footing comes back — slowly, and not by force. Often it helps to name what you've lost, honor it, and let the new shape of your life arrive at its own pace. If you're in the middle of one of these thresholds, therapy can be a steady place to stand while the ground settles.
About the author
Nora Bennett, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker · Portland, OR
Nora is a relational therapist in Portland who works with anxiety, life transitions, grief, and self-worth. She writes here the way she works — warmly, plainly, and without jargon.