You’re Not Lost — You’re Just Between Versions
When the world doesn’t recognize who you’re becoming, it can feel like you’ve disappeared. But this in-between space is where real identity is formed.
There’s a strange, uncomfortable space between who you were and who you’re becoming. The “between versions” of yourself.
It’s quiet.
It’s uncertain.
And at times, it feels like you’ve vanished.
The people who once celebrated you don’t see you anymore.
The routine that once defined you no longer fits.
And yet — you’re not quite the next version of yourself yet either.
This is what I call the in-between — the space between roles, between titles, between stages.
It can feel like you’ve lost something.
But in truth?
You haven’t lost yourself. You’re just becoming more of who you really are.
Growth often begins in the space between clarity and confusion — and it rarely looks like certainty.
When I stepped off the stage for a season — not to retire, but to expand — there was a moment when I wondered:
“If I’m not performing, who am I?”
It’s the kind of question we all face at some point.
- When we leave a job
- When a relationship ends
- When we step away from the identity we were praised for
And while the applause may stop, what remains is far more powerful:
Your internal clarity.
The world likes categories.
It likes labels, and bios, and “what do you do” boxes.
But real transformation doesn’t fit in a headline.
It doesn’t make perfect sense until you’ve already walked through it.
And the in-between isn’t the absence of identity —
It’s the birthplace of the next one.
So if you’re in that space right now —
That foggy place between clarity and confusion —
You’re not lost.
You’re just becoming.
And trust me:
You won’t be here forever.
But what you build here — quietly, patiently, without needing permission — will be the strongest version of you yet.
— James Barbour®