Becoming

The period when you were not yet what you were trying to be.

The slow accumulation of small changes that added up to a different person.

When you stopped being one thing and had not yet become another.

The version of you that existed between who you were and who you are now.

A phase in which you were practicing something you had not yet mastered.

When you felt yourself changing faster than you could understand.

The stretch of years in which the foundation of the future self was laid.

Trying on identities to find which one fit.

The uncomfortable middle space of transformation.

When the old self was fading but the new one had not yet arrived.

A relationship or place or practice that made you into something new.

The long, invisible work of becoming what you eventually became.

When you were becoming capable of something you could not yet do.

A mentor or adversary who shaped the person you were becoming.

The version of you that would have embarrassed your future self.

When you were clearly on the way somewhere, even if you did not know where.

The work of becoming someone your past self would not have recognized.

A commitment to growth that was slow and not always visible.

The period when potential was obvious but achievement was not yet certain.

When you were still figuring out who you were going to be.