Life's Airbnb

Post graduation feels like staying in an Airbnb, but it's good for us!

Graduating undergrad just over two weeks ago has felt quite strange. After four and a half years of college memories, grinding out last second assignments, a pandemic, I am done. Getting to hang out over this holiday season without the impending mental stress of school starting again has felt nostalgic to when I graduated high school, though now I am feel more acquainted with it.

The feeling of being ‘in-between’ takes place in such transitions of life, it may look different for us all though: a break up or a start of a new summer romance, the feeling of discovering a new passion, the loss of a job or a promotion in your career, the death of a loved one, the birth of a child… (I could keep going for a while). Life is full of transition moments, some take more getting used to than others, but transitions all the same. The worry in these moments of life is that we react in one of three ways: we miss them, we run from them, or we become familiar on how to navigate them.

A way to describe this feeling, in my experience, is like staying at an Airbnb for a week. Airbnb’s are a convenient option for housing while abroad, we would never equate them to our home. After the majority of the trip has taken place, we find ourselves not needing the directions to get to the airbnb as much, and we remember the street name, and now we know the neighbor’s dog Krypto is not friendly. Once you pack up to leave, you soak up the moment before you lock up for the last time just a little extra. This is the feeling I am talking about, an Airbnb after a long trip. Though it never became our home, it was where we were for that period of time.

The in-between is a beautiful place, void of past experiences and complete ignorance to what lies ahead, solely dependent on if we are present.

I must feel this moment of post-grad blues because this transition only happens once in my life, if I do not, I run the risk of not being present in my life. While that seems like an extreme assumption, it is true. If we are not present in the moments of transition in our lives we walk a fine line between experiencing our life first hand or being numb to all of life. The in-between is a beautiful place, void of past experiences and complete ignorance to what lies ahead. It is up to us how we approach these seasons, and though we may get restless in the Airbnb of in-between, know it isn’t forever. Feel the in-between moments of your life, and it just may result in you being more present to yourself and the one’s you love.

Share with someone who is going through an in-between.