The Spaces In Between
When I launched this blog, my goal was to share something new once a week. But, I was quickly humbled as we hit an unusually busy season. I started this specific excerpt many times in my “downtime”, but never quite finished for one reason or another. Looking back, I now know that I was forcing it, while other more important things were passing me by. I was using my only extra time to “produce more”, when in reality I actually needed to slow down. So, I logged out and vowed to come back when the time was right. And, here we are, 2 months later.
That experience was actually quite fitting for the theme of this blog, “The Spaces In Between.” I, personally, wasn’t making room to actually have space and I also was utilizing the space that I did have very poorly. Remember, this is a choice that we get to make!
Something to consider - when was the last time that you actually slowed down in between the “givens” in your life? As in truly slowing down in between work or your day-to-day tasks? We have all of these non-negotiables that we go through every day, but there are spaces in between. Let me rephrase that, there SHOULD be spaces in between. Unfortunately, our society prides itself on constantly filling these gaps - whether its with more work, more exercise, more scrolling, more tasks, or just plain filler noise.
It is so easy to see these gaps as “just transitions to the next thing’, rather than an invitation to slow down and connect with ourselves and what’s around us.
The spaces between tasks are not wasted time. They are where we have room to breathe.
In those spaces, we reconnect to ourselves and our families.
In those spaces, we hear God's voice.
In those spaces, our nervous systems have a chance to reset.
Now, don’t get me wrong, there will be seasons of life that feel more chaotic (Que teething or potty training. So much joy, yet so much chaos, lol) I do want you to remember though, what may be considered chaos isn’t always necessarily “bad” and challenging your body isn’t necessarily “bad” - but, your body does need to be supported to move through each of those challenges in a healthy, sustainable way. And this is where “The Pause” comes in - the spaces in your life that you don’t have to fill.
Without these intentional pauses, we aren't just busy, we are perpetually overstimulated. We aren't just working hard, we are feeding this constant chaos inside of ourselves and inside of our homes.
I encourage you to embrace and adjust to the times that are naturally chaotic, but do not feed constant chaos. I wish I could needle point that on a pillow for you. Hear me out - you DON’T have to live in constant chaos - every minute of your day doesn’t need a checklist - every little thing doesn’t demand your immediate attention - boundaries are super important, but so is flexibility - and it’s ok to not be in control. You get to make the choice to fuel the chaos fire, or not. Create the space you need to put that fire out.
My challenge for you is to find the joy in the more challenging moments, but consciously incorporate some sort of intentional pauses and joy into every season of your life. This is doable, even when it feels impossible. Trust me!
