Rebellion isn’t a single act—it’s a process with overlapping phases. Almost no one talks about what’s really involved in its phases.
The problem isn’t that people don’t rebel; it’s that most stop too early and mistake the beginning for the breakthrough. Or that they don’t understand that it’s often not simple and linear. It’s pinballing back and forth between the phases as you slowly move through them overall.
Related Posts: This is part of a series about the REBEL SOUL. Click here for clarification on what I mean by SOUL.
Four Phases of Rebellion for the Rebel Soul
The phases can go by different names, but their purpose is the same no matter the rebellion.
- Restoring involves gaining the growing sense and awareness of misalignment compared with conscious relating and creating. It invites movement into a full transformation that begins with renewing, reflecting, and releasing.
- Restarting involves beginning again from a different place following the dismantling in phase one. It requires more than mere resistance against the object of our rebellion and invites readying, reenvisioning, and reaching.
- Recreating involves effort, growth, and overcoming obstacles. It invites activating change, in ourselves and the circumstances or relationships around us, and resisting the energy of undertow in the face of obstacles, confrontation, and consequences.
- Realization involves reintegrating and solidifying all of the changes that were part of the rebellion within ourselves, bringing a more permanent re“solving” of the point of the rebellion into the different dynamics and forms in our lives and environments and coming to terms with the results and consequences of our rebellion, both positive and not so positive.
Rebellion also requires fuel in the figurative sense, referred to as Resourcing, otherwise it stalls out very quickly. It involves doing all of the important things to keep ourselves in a state of capability through self-care, regulation and resilience, reaffirming ourselves with compassion and encouragement and recharging with inspiration, information, and support.
The Restoring Phase is the Contradictory Entry Point of Rebellion
The first phase of rebellion is restoring.
We often simplify the notion of restoring as being only about rest and renewal. But it’s much more than that, especially when it comes to rebellion.
For the rebel soul, rebellion is initiated because there is a misalignment prompt between how things are and what the foundational imprint of conscious relating and creating (held by the soul) looks and feels like. The rebel soul may not have words to describe this, but they sense it through discomfort, tension, and angst.
The call of rebellion is to restore by closing the gap or at least moving closer to conscious relating and creating, whether individually or collectively.
Of course, this misalignment is an invitation without guarantee.
There are any number of different potential responses to prompts of misalignment many of which involve getting stuck or never really starting.
- Denial or Suppression of the misalignment prompt, either consciously or unconsciously, in which case we just keep moving forward in the exact same ways with unawareness and without rebellion.
- Conflicted Awareness, whereby we are aware of the misalignment prompt but choose to set it aside and/or manage it rather than shift anything about ourselves or our lives. The result is some degree of internal conflict and no rebellion.
- Acknowledged Exploration as we notice and gather more information, experiences, or insight, to determine the nature of the misalignment. We observe without starting any rebellion.
- External Defiance or Resistance in response to whatever seems less conscious. This is where the beginning often gets mistaken for the breakthrough.
For the rebel soul, the breakthrough has barely started, and the light of day is nowhere to be found. In fact, it’s only the beginning of the discomfort. The rebel soul, upon recognizing the misalignment, leans into the process of transformation in search of realignment.
As part of the restoring phase, the rebel soul is also called to reflection and releasing, internally and externally. Internally, this means self-reflection and taking responsibility for their own related part (no matter how small) in that lack consciousness, or in how they may benefit from that lack of consciousness. Then, they need to release that part of themselves, which often involves loss and regret. It’s the necessary deconstruction before reconstruction is possible. It can feel disorienting.
Externally, it may mean reflecting on larger influences that contribute to the ways things are. This can lead to a wider awareness of the realities of life and how people are impacted everyday by related gaps in conscious relating and creating. This can feel like a loss of certainty about how we thought things were and can be painful to face.
People can also avoid the deconstruction and the disorientation because it’s uncomfortable or because they assume they must have gone off course. This is the second way of getting stuck.
If you want to go deeper you can also explore some specific posts on Restoring related to renewing and reflecting as well as releasing.
The Restarting Phase is Activation in a Different and Higher Direction
The second phase of rebellion is restarting.
It doesn’t usually have the resounding clarity of vision, certitude of direction, and confidence of action that we imagine in a rebellion or see in typical Hollywood movies. This phase is usually condensed for film, which leads us to think rebels move immediately into what is actually the third or even fourth phase.
The restarting phase can be quiet and tentative. So much has been deconstructed in the first phase that the rebel soul’s sense of self and footing is often shaky. It’s often filled with humility and only the beginnings of hope.
Between holding the complexity of things and fear of unintentionally recreating what just got dismantled, the rebel soul often takes a pause to ready themselves and reenvision before they reach for a new start. They might ready themselves by sorting through what conscious relating and creating would really look like, or by figuring out what real change might be and talking to others. They might begin to see the new reality in their mind’s eye or find stories of similar rebellion to help generate more hope and envision what’s possible.
After that, they begin to reach in terms of taking tangible steps in the real world to recreate in alignment with the higher level of conscious relating and creating. This can be in new directions, and also against the old ways of doing things. The reaching and risk-taking involved move them into the third phase.
If you want to go deeper you can also explore some specific posts on Restarting related to re-envisioning, readying as well as reaching and resourcing.
The Recreating Phase is the Long Phase of Rebellion
The third phase of rebellion is recreating.
By this point, the rebel soul is more or less recovered from the discomfort, deconstruction, and disorientation of the restoring phase, and has gained a bit of footing through the restarting phase. This allows them to become more committed and more consistent with actions to create change and bring the higher level of conscious relating and creating into reality.
This phase involves lots of expression, both internally in terms of new ways of thinking and externally in terms of new actions, new alliances, new relationships, new boundaries, new petitions, new negotiations, new commitments, and new ways of responding to things.
But it’s not all smooth sailing. The new ways of doing things don’t automatically, easily translate into the higher result. Some actions have good results, while others have little to no impact. There is enormous new learning, and at least some floundering involved. This phase requires remaining true to the change with diligence and continued effort.
This phase also involves resisting the undertow than inevitably comes when we are trying to rise and/or influence a wider rising. The pull of regressing is near. The backlash from others is expressed. We quickly learn that it takes more than trying to convince others that change is needed for change to happen. There may be additional losses from the rebel soul’s life as they stay committed to the new direction.
With continued effort and time, the recreating starts to gain a solid hold, which initiates the next phase. Depending on the nature of the rebellion, this can take years, decades, or generations.
The Realizing Phase is the Rebellion Made Manifest
The fourth and final phase of rebellion for the rebel soul is realization.
This phase involves fully reintegrating the changes in ourselves, the actions we undertook, and our lives. After this point, there is no longer a risk of regression and there is no going back, even temporarily. The consciousness gained cannot be lost again.
The phase also involves bringing a more permanent re“solving” the point of the rebellion into the different dynamics and forms in our lives and environments. There will be ongoing adjustments as we move forward, but they will not require nearly the intention and effort.
And finally, we are also required to come to terms with the results and consequences of our rebellion, both positive and less so. It’s like taking the final stock, to see the gains we made, the impact we had, and noting what may still be needed from us. It’s a good idea to celebrate in whatever way feels appropriate to the rebellion.
No matter the outcome of the rebellion, we cycle back into restoring. If we have been effective (circumstances willing) in moving through the rebellion, we can rest and renew before moving forward with regular life (and the eventual next rebellion). If we have been less effective, we are invited to continue the rebellion and enter another round of transformation..
Resourcing is How We Keep Ourselves Fueled Throughout the Rebellion
Resourcing is ongoing throughout all of the phases although may look different in each phase.
Unfortunately, it is often missed or minimized which can compromise the overall rebellion. Without it, rebel souls can lose their steam and movement stalls out.
Resourcing involves keeping ourselves in a state of curiosity, connection and capability which can require a lot of different things. It might mean ongoing regulation, self-care and efforts to ensure our resilience. It might mean reaffirming ourselves with compassion and encouragement. It might mean recharging ourselves with inspiration and efforts to maintain our motivation. It might be releasing our sadness and frustration when things are unfair or particularly hard. It might mean seeking additional information or drawing on some supports by leaning on or engaging with others.
Why the Process of Rebellion Matters for the Rebel Soul
Knowing there is a repetitive process to rebellion with four phases can be helpful in lots of ways.
The knowledge can help us make sense of what we have already moved through or might be moving through right now.
It can provide us with the orientation of where we are and where we still need to go to find our way through.
It can normalize the discomfort, deconstruction, and disorientation.
It can keep the effort and challenges in perspective, so we are less likely to get stuck or abandon the transformation midway.
And it can support us to navigate the terrain more easily. This might include seeking others who are in the process of rebellion or otherwise organizing some supports for ourselves.
Takeaways About the Process of Rebellion
- Rebellion is much more than resistance. It’s a process.
- Rebellion is often romanticized, but it’s harder than it looks, especially for a rebel soul.
- Lots of people get stuck in the first phase, either because they mistake the beginning for the breakthrough or because they avoid the discomfort of deconstruction and disorientation.
- Rebellion has four phases, including: the pull of restoring ourselves and external circumstances to a higher level of conscious relating and creating; the humility and hope of restarting in a new direction; the commitment and consistency of recreating ourselves, our lives, and our world, inside and out; and realizing that happens through reintegrating all the changes and reaping the results and consequences of our rebellious efforts. No matter the outcome, we cycle back into restoring either to rest and renew before moving forward with regular life or to continue the rebellion and enter another round of transformation if we have not been as effective.
- Resourcing is the literal and figurative fuel throughout all phases of rebellion. It is necessary for sustaining both the rebel soul and progress with the rebellion.
Reflect a bit on your lived experience of rebellion to see what you might discover.
“Can I see my journey in the phases?
Can I see where I got stuck, (if I did)?
Can I relate to some of the difficulties?
Can I appreciate the inner strength I gained through rebellion?
With Humility, Hope, and Heart,
