Friend, this Peak you face is high and the climb is brutal. When you look up, you will see darkness; when you look down, you will see darkness – I won’t lie to you. Yes, you know this is a long, dark, cold night, and you feel each step, each breath, is a fight. I won’t lie to you, my friend.
You will continue the climb in these conditions, harsh, unforgiving, painful. You will continue because you want to see. You will continue because you have to.
Friend, when your last reserves’ last reserves have been depleted, you will turn inward and find coldness; you will turn outward and find coldness. I won’t lie to you.
Listen closely, my friend, to what will happen next: First you will feel, then you will see. Slowly, the cold, the dark, the timelessness will be erased. Life will become vivid and warm again. Friend, your reserves will be restored, you will be restored. I won’t lie to you, you will not know how to speak of your experience. For those who have faced the Peak, it is called the Sunrise.
If life is a journey, most of us can identify transitional points along the way and perhaps some of us are negotiating these now. Transitions bring change, transformation, creativity and hope but they are often made of loss, confusion, illness and anger. You can, however, harness the power of transitional moments or periods in your life, heal and move into new spaces, finding meaning in the journey.
I am privileged to have been witness to the courage of my clients: those learning to embrace new things, those accepting themselves or others, those finally saying no, those finding their voices, those learning to let go, those walking the difficult path of grief and those navigating the treacherous waters of mental and physical health problems.
Clients have said that the sessions validated where they currently are and gave “permission to go into the future”.
Discovering meaning in transition is essential in order to tie our story together and make sense of who we are. This allows us to walk a full circle and brings a sense of completion to each journey we take, whether it be relationship-oriented, career-oriented, health-oriented or self-development-oriented. Only from this space of self-knowledge can we make sense of what we want, where we want to be and where we have come from. The process of meaning making and engaging with ourselves so deeply and honestly is difficult at times – sometimes it seems easier to forget or ignore parts of who we are or where we are. Yet our core or essence — our true self — wants to enter into conversation with us and bring transformation, healing and integration. During these conversations, we begin to discover meaning in transition and it is a rewarding, memorable journey, unique to each individual.
I use a variety of approaches in my practice to facilitate the discovery of meaning in transition including:
ARTS THERAPY – MUSIC THERAPY
DREAM WORK
MANDALA ANALYSIS
GUIDED IMAGERY, SOUND AND MUSIC
VOICE WORK
ECOTHERAPY
DEEP RELAXATION SESSIONS
Sessions are 60 – 90 minutes and aimed at adults and some teenagers. My practice is located in a beautiful garden studio in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. Please click here to book a session.
Melissa McWalter 