When working with my private writing students, I show them how to use transitions to establish logical connections in their essays.
Transitions are words, phrases, and sentences that signal relationships between ideas. Once you get the hang of using them, they make your writing flow.
If only the transitions in our lives were as simple and clearly defined.
I’m writing this post on September 22, the beginning of the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world.
According to the astronomical calendar, my favorite season–summer–has officially ended.
Another transition.
As glorious as the early fall days are in New England, the shortening of the daylight begins to weigh on me. Increased work demands detract from my creative endeavors.
Bittersweet fall anniversaries arrive.
The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is a transition to a time of reflection and renewal. The holiday begins on the eve of September 25 and coincides with the New Moon.
During this lunar phase, the Moon is located on same side of the Earth as the Sun. The moon won’t be visible in the night sky.
The missing moonlight, however, makes for a better time to observe galaxies and star clusters. Bonus!
This idea got me thinking….
When someone is missing in our lives, we live under a dark shadow. It’s hard to see past the loss.
Yet, perhaps, like during the New Moon, this period of darkness offers us an opportunity to see more clearly.
For only when the moonlight “hides” can the faint objects come into full view.
Like following the stars of a constellation, you begin to “connect the dots”.
Maybe you’ll have a eureka moment, like a meteoric flash, that transforms the horizon.
If it is still possible for your loved one to return, then you may reconnect with greater understanding. You can share the insights observed in your night sky.
And if there is no chance for return, then hopefully the clarity and awareness gained from their absence can help you transition to a new phase.
What does the transition to autumn mean to you?
EVELYN KRIEGER 
I love your comparison, writing transitions and the transition to the various seasons. When I wake up tomorrow or next day and the temperature has dropped ten degrees, I’ll automatically think of a new writer who may not be as experienced in their writing and needing some help transitioning from one paragraph to the next. Too funny. My hope is that I’ll be able to laugh and not miss summer too much. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks, Brian. The comparison came to me as I was doing my nightly sky watch. That same day I’d been showing a student how to add transitions to her college app essay. I was in FL last week and forgot how hot and humid September can be. Then the morning I returned, it was 47 in Boston. The weather transition happens fairly quickly. I think we may have had our last warm night. Still, the days are great and I’m grateful to still be here.
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What a thought-provoking and inspiring post, Evelyn. You have me thinking about transitions in a different way and I’m so grateful! Happy Fall to you!
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Thank you, Wynne. Fall is a tough season for me because it’s a such a busy time compared to summer and prelude to winter. I’m trying to enjoy each day as it comes, though. Today the air is crips, the sky electric blue, and the sun strong. Just fine. I’m a big moon watcher, if you haven’t detected so far.
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What a beautiful post. I love the line: “For only when the moonlight ‘hides’ can the faint objects come into full view.”
It makes me think about how important contrasts are to seeing the whole picture. We can’t know happiness without its counterpart sadness. We need moments of quiet reflection to balance moments of exuberant joy. Yin and Yang.
Transition to autumn for me signals the beginning of my favorite holidays and a time to lean into my family and reconnect after the scattering of summer. It signals for me a return to order and rhythm. Unlike many, I find summer’s openness at first exciting and freeing, but by the beginning of September I’m craving the structure the school year brings. Perhaps this relationship will change when my children are grown and gone. It will be interesting to see.
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Thank you, Bridgette. I appreciate your eloquent elaboration on my ideas. Counterpart. Absolutely! Aas a former classroom teacher turned private academic coach, I still live by the rhythm of the school calendar. September feels fresh. The Jewish holidays that come in Sept-October create an urgency and certainly structure. Winter is a whole other story but, this year especially, I am trying to embrace the changing of the seasons and find beauty and comfort in each phase. Look out for the sliver moon tonight.
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Wow Evelyn this is a very great blog and I absolutely love reading it. I also love the way you have explained transitions in the use of writing that it is like a relationship with the words and the connection of phrases and sentences.
Transition in the autumn can mean a lot of things and it can be used to describe life such as death, love and the future. 🙌🙌👌
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Thanks, Mthobisi. Now I’m slowly transitioning to winter in New England–not my favorite time.
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