Potholes are pits in asphalt surfaces (like roads) caused by a weakness in the underlying soil that’s been amplified by the weight and impact of traffic. This results in chunks of the road cracking or steadily eroding away, over time.

The roads in Milwaukee are brutalized by both heavy traffic and the expansion-contraction effects of our bipolar weather cycles (water gets into the cracks, expands when it freezes, then contracts when it melts). These cycles worsen infrastructural damage like potholes, and that means there are a lot of them—so many that it’s difficult to keep tabs on, much less repair them all.

My parking lot has been a moonscape this past year, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the crater-like holes were filled yesterday; the fissures filled with mounds of (what looks like) tar-covered gravel.

It was wonderful! Though it was also very inconvenient, as these sticky mounds were still hot and tacky when I returned home, coating my tires and threatening to crust over my shoes, too.

There’s often this sort of transitionary moment between problems and the implementation of a solution; a liminal space in which things are actually in some ways worse, just before they become a whole lot better (compared to that previous paradigm, at least).

Every time I establish a new habit or make a beneficial update to my home, things are a bit trickier until that new habit sticks, and until I can rewire my muscle memory so I’m not bumping my toes on the recently moved furniture so often.

Moving to a new city, taking a career risk, updating one’s beliefs based on new information—all things that can be more difficult in the immediate aftermath of making a change, but which will often lead to better outcomes once the tar has cooled and the gravel has settled.

The trick is to remember that this can happen, otherwise these moments of “oh no!” can trigger a panic response, unwarranted backtracking, or full-on retreat.

It’s possible that the right choice, a positive move, a good decision will take time to fully manifest. It’s also possible that until it does, things will be weird, uncomfortable, or even toe-bruisingly painful, for a time.

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