Vertical development as a framework is about transformation.
More specifically, a transformation which reorganizes and reconstructs your sense of identity.
This can metaphorically feel like undergoing a death and rebirth of yourself though.
That’s because the development often requires some loss or letting go, which can include grief.
This isn’t something that one can just explain to someone else and they will understand it though.
It has to be experienced before one can fully relate to it and understand it.
In other words, you can’t just think your way through the process. You have to feel your way through it as well.
This is why vertical development is often misunderstood and misinterpreted.
You can’t bypass the experience with an explanation. You have to fully step into it, live it, and experience it to truly understand it.
This is why I personally prefer perceiving vertical development as a journey, similar to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.
In effect, similar to travelling to a new country you’ve never been to before, you can read about it as much as you want but until you actually travel there and experience it for yourself, you won’t truly begin to understand the culture and its people.
Perhaps even more appropriately, the journey can be seen as that taken by an immigrant to a new country and a new life — a journey marked by loss and the liminal question of “Who am I now?” — yet also by the emergence of new possibilities.