Waiting (Nourishment) in Transitions

You're in the interval after an ending — the notice given but not yet worked out, the decision made but not yet acted, the loss real but the new shape not yet clear. This is the in-between, and it has its own discipline. The Image is precise: the wise eat and drink, joyous and of good cheer, while they wait. That is not denial; it is refusing to spend the interval in anxious vigil. Stay nourished, keep the ordinary rhythms of life going, and don't rehearse the whole future in advance (line 1). The clouds are rising toward heaven. What must be released will release in its time — your part now is to wait in strength, not to drag the ending to a premature close.

For the new chapter that's coming but not yet here — the move that hasn't completed, the reinvention still forming — the counsel is confident readiness. A great crossing may be required, and it can succeed, but only undertaken with sincerity and the willingness to let timing belong to something larger than your impatience. So keep your life full while you wait; strengthen yourself rather than scan the horizon. Beware the two false exits (line 3, line 4): wading toward the change before it's ripe out of sheer restlessness, and letting hurt or grievance turn the waiting bitter. When the unexpected arrives in an unfamiliar form (line 6), honour it — rescue often looks strange at first.