deen

Journal

«The Window»: When Life Opens and Closes to Let Us Transform

Carsten Diederich26 October 20252 min read

In 2018 a window opened for Carsten while everything around him was collapsing. Now a second one is opening, and this time it is ripeness that moves him rather than the pressure to survive.

Person am offenen Fenster im Morgenlicht, darunter der Bildtitel The Window

There are moments in life when a window opens — quietly, yet unmistakably.

You don’t plan for it. You simply know: if you don’t move now, you might not make it through at all.

In 2018, one of those windows opened for me.

It came at a time when everything was collapsing — the structures, the roles, the certainty I had built my life upon.

I had reached a point where I was losing almost everything that had once defined me.

And with it, I was losing myself.

It was the lowest point I had ever known.

But in that depth, something unexpected appeared — a thin crack of light, a possibility.

A moment where life, in its quiet mercy, offered me a choice:

“Step through, or stay and slowly fade.”

I stepped through. Not because I was brave, but because I had no other choice left.

And that step became the beginning of my recovery — not from a condition, but from disconnection.

From forgetting who I was, what mattered, and what it truly means to live.

The person who emerged on the other side was humbler, quieter, and more awake.

Now, years later, another window opens.

It doesn’t carry the same pain — but it carries the same truth. A whisper that says:

“You’ve reached the edge again — but this time, it’s growth, not survival.”

After years of building, leading, and holding, I began to feel a quiet completeness.

Not an ending born of loss, but of ripeness.

The realization that I had gone as far as I could in this chapter — and that staying would mean turning away from something unfolding inside me.

So once again, I stand before the open frame.

Not running, not chasing — just listening.

I don’t yet know where it leads, but I recognize the feeling.

It’s the same current that saved me once, now returning in gentler form —inviting me to become someone new.

Windows don’t stay open forever.

That’s what I learned — both in the darkness of 2018 and in the clarity of now.

They ask for timing, courage, and surrender.

If you wait too long, the light fades.

If you move too fast, you stumble in the dark.

But when the heart and the moment align, transformation becomes possible.

The view on the other side is never clear.

But clarity isn’t the condition for crossing — it’s the gift you find once you do.

Between windows

Between 2018 and now lies a lifetime.

Of rebuilding from the inside out.

Of rediscovering truth, love, and purpose not as ideas, but as practice.

And once again, I can feel it:

A window closing softly behind me.

Another one opening ahead — filled with fresh air, uncertainty, and light.

I don’t yet know who I’ll be on the other side.

And maybe that’s what growth really is —not about knowing, but about trusting that each window opens for a reason.

Author’s Note:

Windows of transformation often appear when life strips away what we thought we needed.

They’re not rewards — they’re invitations.

In 2018, I walked through one because I had to.

Today, I walk through another because I choose to.

And in that difference, I see how far I’ve come.

Carsten Diederich

Carsten Diederich spent 25 years in the energy industry, most recently leading Deal-to-Cash operations at Alpiq. Today he works as a coach with leaders and teams, in Zurich and online.

More about Carsten
A bright meeting room with a long table and a window front

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