HOME IS WHERE WE START FROM: The Interplay of Transitional Phenomena and Healthy Faith

“Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” -Twyla Tharp

Donald Winnicott introduced the concept of transitional phenomena in working through painful intrapsychic conflicts related to our primary object relationships which could apply to our relationship with God. These phenomena, initially explored in the context of child development, have significant implications for understanding the relationship between religion, specifically Christianity, and the human experience. Transitional phenomena, as conceptualized by Winnicott, refer to the transitional objects and spaces that facilitate the transition from an inner world to an outer reality. These intermediary aspects serve as a bridge between the self and the external world, connecting the evolving sense of self with the realm of spirituality in the context of Christianity.

Winnicott’s concept of the transitional object, often exemplified by a child's attachment to a blanket or stuffed toy, corresponds to the individual’s need for a tangible object through which to dramatize their love and hate of a primary caregiver. Just as a child seeks security and destruction through their attachment to an object, Christians often seek a tangible connection to their faith to work through God protecting the faithful from an outside ‘other’ and God protecting the faithful from the ‘otherness’ within. Even Christ himself tried to engage in the loving and hate dialogue of his home, the Jewish community. And yet, he became very attuned with the idea that home is where we start from but it is in the world where we become who we are.

Beyond transitional objects and understanding that home is where we start from, Winnicott also emphasized the importance of transitional spaces, which are intermediate realms between subjective and objective reality. These spaces enable individuals to explore imagination, creativity, and the potential for spiritual growth. In the Christian context, such transitional spaces manifest in rituals, places of worship, and spiritual practices. Churches, for example, are transitional spaces where Christians can transcend their everyday concerns and connect with the divine. Within these sacred spaces, they engage in communal rituals, prayer, and reflection, creating an environment that encourages spiritual growth, self-reflection, and the building of a relationship with God. And if healthy faith is developed, the faithful’s destructive capacity is sublimated through a (de)constructive practice to rethink and reimagine what home could be out in the world away from the primary objects of our past. The (de)constructive practice engages with the conflicts of love whereby we acknowledge there was never an idyllic past, like Eden, to return to. Rather, we are tasked with creating a world that has never existed before. One might say, it is a world after the death of God and the faithful become the transitional object they have been seeking, which is an encounter with the spirit of Christ in the act of loving itself.

Of course, this elevates the role of creativity and imagination as it teaches the mind to relate and even communicate in the realm of the symbolic which is so often the language of love and hate. Reflecting on the transitional experiences, such as engaging with transitional objects or spaces, can foster authentic faith and mature development.