Taking an Intentional Pause in Trying Times (Draft)

Hi Folks, This is quite a time in our world—putting it mildly. The vulnerabilities so many of our community face are magnified and those who had a workable sense of comfort, are now stressed in a new way.

I am aware of my privilege in being able to sit in a shelter stable for the moment and write this blog entry. With that privilege I can’t ignore what my struggles have been and what others struggles continue to be and feel concerned that we are living in a space of more stratification.

It’s never been a convenient time to look at the consequences of the inequities of our system and now it seems harder for some to think about. In this moment, as more and more folks have a sense of abandonment by the system they have held hope in for support and are overwhelmed by how much more responsibility and burden that puts on each individual to carry, with less and less resource or assurance of access to resources…we have the potential to pause and notice that this is the daily experience of marginalization that so many endure all the time in a system that has not ever been able to see them or be there for them. This is a moment that could offer compassion and solidarity for those who are routinely “too inconvenient”to witness and know that, even in this moment, those who are living with a new normal of burden and strain, even this is not close to the burdens that many others carry daily.

This pandemic did not level the field for all of us, it increased most folks’ existing strain by a magnifying factor. Those at the edges of our system were not suddenly level with the rest of our community. They were pushed further to the edge.

It is a time to reflect on what changes are needed now and to see the truth, that these changes were needed all along. How do we work towards the sustainability of all beings and when does the sustainability of ALL beings finally become our sustainability too? We may not quantum leap, but there is an opportunity to question what can I do today to see one more around me?

And in the midst of real urgency it can seem incredulous to take a pause or a break, but in taking an intentional pause, not only can we find one more moment of agency in our individual lives, we may contribute that sense of agency towards the collective benefit.

Taking a pause/intentional vacation can be as simple as pausing and acknowledging a could or a tree branch, imagining a self caring relief or joy we have longed for…whether it is eating in a way that would meet our needs better, breathing one longer breath, imagining kindness we have longed to receive…taking that moment and gifting that to those most tired and worn inner parts of us, can be a start. It can bring up feelings of futility and pessimism, and even those pessimistic and skeptically inclined parts need a moment of reprieve, to know that for today they are lovable too. Taking a simple internal vacation can change the landscape of the world one re-enters when re-turning to our outer environment. In times, when resources seem strained, we have this.

Over time, these moments of pause and self care add up, and life begins to change. That quantum leap to a better life may have seemed alluring, but now it might make sense, that all these inbetween steps are necessary to even embrace the future one has longed for…we write it as we go along, one intentional pause at a time, one moment of self gifting, self care, self honoring, self loving at a time. One action borne from this consciousness at a time... The more we advocate for the care of those discarded parts of us on the inside, the more we can arrive with care for others on the outside.

In this time, when from fear, some may lash out and some may self constrain further, a pause can mean the difference between staying compassionate and flexible in the moment or causing more internal and external suffering. That doesn’t mean don’t rock the boat. Discomfort is part of dismantling a system that does not serve us anymore, however, the promise is that what lies ahead is certainly better.

So, if you can take an intentional pause and nourish that one inside and outside of you that has longed for your care, life can be better, because of the pause.

With love,