Transitions in Culture: Living Through Shifts in Identity and Belonging

Culture shapes us. It tells us who we are, how we belong, and what we value. Yet culture shifts with time, innovation, and history. In recent years, these shifts have felt more intense as our political climate has amplified divisions, surfaced tensions, and challenged our ability to live together across differences.

Cultural transitions touch us deeply. They can feel exciting, bringing new perspectives and ideas, but they can feel disorienting when they challenge our belief systems and lifestyles. William Bridges’ framework of Endings, the Neutral Zone, and New Beginnings helps us see that cultural change is not only external—it requires us to evaluate ourselves internally as well.

The Ending: Letting Go of “How Things Used to Be”

Cultural transitions often begin with the sense that something familiar is slipping away. For many, that has meant watching relationships fracture along political lines. Families and communities that once felt united now wrestle with deep disagreements.

Endings in culture are rarely simple. They bring grief and resistance. Some people feel a loss of a sense of unity, others carry fear that values they hold close will be left behind. When letting go during cultural shift, we need to balance the tension between honoring history while also acknowledging the weight that comes when things shift and change.

The Neutral Zone: Living in the In-Between

After endings comes the in-between space—the Neutral Zone. Our political climate has heightened polarization, making it difficult to know how or where we belong. Conversations that once felt safe can quickly feel charged. Communities struggle to move toward one another.

But - there is so much opportunity in the Neutral Zone. While it is disorienting, it’s in this space that bridges can be built across divides, even when it feels uncomfortable.

The Neutral Zone asks us to live with tension. It requires patience as we navigate cultural shifts, and it challenges us to resist the pull toward isolation or hostility, choosing instead to remain open to being part of the positive change foward.

 The New Beginning: Redefining Culture with Hope

New beginnings in culture are not quick fixes. They happen slowly, through numerous small choices to listen to one another and honor our differences. In the midst of political polarization, a new beginning might look like sitting across the table from one another in conversation, listening to each other, even when we disagree. Or remembering looking for the similarities between us instead of the differences - because let’s face it - we’re all just human beings doing our best to navigate this world we live in together.  

New beginnings in culture don’t erase conflict, but they do create hope. They remind us that culture is something we are all shaping, together.

 Closing Thoughts

Cultural transitions are rarely simple. Our political climate has intensified this reality, often making it harder to listen, to trust, and to find belonging. Yet it also pushes us to ask: What kind of culture do we want to help create?

As individuals and communities, we grow stronger when we learn to name what’s ending, sit with the in-between, and step forward into new cultural beginnings with openness and hope, together.

An Invitation for Reflection

• Are there familiar ways of life or sense of unity that I am grieving?

• How is the “in-between” challenging how I relate to people who see the world differently than I do?

• What small steps could I take to contribute to a new cultural beginning rooted in hope and belonging?