Shock. Anger. Sadness. Fear. Grief.

When aspects of our world feel broken, when we experience a rupture, we enter what’s known as the liminal space – or what the writer and philosopher David Brooks calls the valley of bewilderment.

Life can be seen as a journey across two mountains, according to Brooks. The first is a climb that most of us know well: becoming independent from our parents, cultivating our talents, building a career, chasing success and personal happiness. 

Then, for some, something unexpected “knocks us crossways” – something life-altering that was not part of the plan. “Whatever the cause, these people are no longer climbing the mountain. They are down in the valley of bewilderment or suffering.”

As the superficial flow of the everyday is shattered, these valleys have a way of breaking us open, exposing the deepest parts of ourselves.

Some shrink in reaction, becoming more afraid, more resentful. 

For others, this valley is their making: “Their life is defined by how they react to their moment of greatest adversity”.

While we conquer our first mountain, identifying the summit, and working our way towards it, the journey through the valley of bewilderment is in........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)