breathing space

My #oneword365 for this year is “pause,” and I already love how much even just choosing that word has helped me to slow down, and create some breathing space.

Advent is usually my season for that. Quiet nights and twinkle lights are frequently my way in to a slower season, but it didn’t quite pan out that way. From mid-November straight on through to mid-December, I was either traveling or sick or both, and I didn’t even make it to church most weeks. A friend asked at some point in the middle of all of it: “how goes the journey?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer – to be honest, I was so focused on getting through the next thing that I wasn’t sure you could even call what I was on an actual journey. It felt more like just surviving.

By Christmas Eve, I was definitely identifying with the “weary world'” part of O Holy Night. Owning it was at least a start. I needed to slow way down and reset.

I’ve written before about the OneWord365 community, and choosing a word for the year. This year, my word chose me – in October – so I’ve had plenty of time to gear up for it. I found this journal while doing some research for another project, and I knew. “Pause” would be my 2020 word.

I spent some time today thinking about various meanings of the word. Until today, I’d been thinking of “pause” primarily as a verb – as something I need to do. But it’s also a noun. Here are some of the synonymns I’m really resonating with right now.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how all of these aspects of “pause” play out over the course of this year. My weekly date with my journal is already one of the highlights of my weekend, and it’s teaching me to appreciate small (but not insignificant) moments in new ways – dinner with friends, late night phone calls, random conversations with strangers, time to write.

It’s going to be a good year, friends.

Grace and peace,
Happy

photo credit:  Nik MacMillan on Unsplash