“Chaptering”

Someone recently explained their newly coined phrase of “chaptering” to me – essentially it is another way of saying “transitioning” with an emphasis on being between different phases of your life. Most notably – the period between graduating from college and “becoming an adult” (whenever that is…21, 25, 35?) is a very significant chaptering year since it is a period of transition that is significantly formative in shaping one’s identity, career, relationships, and life paths.

Chaptering is tough – it’s awkward and uncomfortable, but can also be exciting and liberating. I imagine that a part of the pull behind the HBO series “Girls” is because it so painfully and explicitly details the ways in which those young women are chaptering, and so many people can relate to those feelings of uncertainty and weirdness surrounding transitions.

What’s the hardest part about chaptering? Is it leaving behind the last phase you were in (childhood, the freedom of college life, an old relationship you’re not ready to let go of yet) or is it the uncertainty and looming challenges ahead that cause the most anxiety (a new job, moving to a new city, being single)? Or is it simply difficult to sit with the fact that you are in between things or more than one thing at the same time? Or is it the anxiety of making some big life decisions?

How are you chaptering and how do you deal with the challenges?