A richly textured, deep map of the personal, professional, and emotional transformations that grow out of tragedy and crisis. Eloquently explaining the mechanics of transition through his own moving story, William Bridges addresses how disillusionment, sorrow, or confusion can blossom into a time of incredible creativity and contentment, highlighting the profound significance and true value of endings in our lives. When his wife died from breast cancer, Bridges began to question all his previous groundbreaking work on transitions. Having conducted seminars and written best-selling books, he had built a reputation as an expert on the topic. And yet, "I felt now that my words had totally failed to match in depth the experience of actually being in transition," he explains. After floundering in self-doubt for months after his wife died, he embarked on a spiritual pilgrimage through Wales. During his visits to sacred sites, he began to see that he simply had more to offer on the subject of transition—more depth, more spirit, and above all, more experience. The result is a brilliant and highly personal book in which he examines the pain and challenge of transition—how it is a time of letting go of the past while taking hold of the future.