In this hustle and bustle of western culture

It can be difficult to stand on the edge of

Pausing

Of slowing down, watching, waiting

Of not giving into the chronic cry

Of do, do, do

What if?

I wait, and be?

Pause and reflect?

It doesn’t mean I’m not valuable or productive

What if waiting in the silence,

Practicing meditation,

Walking in the woods and about the lake

Are themselves an act of kindness to the world?

And just what if, in my own small way

I am part of the shift to slowing down

To relishing pausing

Like savoring the pause in the music when you hear the note before

And the anticipation as you await the continued song

The richness in the pausing

The noticing in between of breathing in,

Pausing,

And then the exhaling,

The passing of time as it does

Minute by minute, hour by hour

Day by day

As the light fades

And twilight draws near

Can I wait in the pause?

What does it look like to pause

To be, to sit in the stillness and write

In the pausing and the waiting,

Reflecting and writing

May my soul be nourished, my body fed, my heart grow ever new

May I continue to make friends with myself

And know that my pausing connects with the world

In its pausing and slowing down

Its  going into winter

Into the hovering, the dark, the making underground in the soil

The rich deep dark earth

Where outwardly it looks bleak,  but inwardly  there is life

Thank you pause

For your presence, your gift.