Gone for a Stroll

The Art of Purposeful Pause

What’s your habit of pause?

Everyone needs moments to regularly break the stream of activities and thinking—some slow time, breathing room, or simply space for something else entirely.

The Daily Ritual

A Swiss friend recently shared her husband’s beautiful daily practice: When he needs a break from whatever occupies him, he announces, “I’m going for a stroll,” grabs his jacket, and disappears into the streets with no destination in mind.

When he returns, she hears about his discoveries—spontaneous conversations with strangers, chance encounters with friends, snippets of overheard stories, details he’d never noticed before. The street becomes his gallery, the neighbourhood his social club.

His stroll is disruption and movement, inspiration and connection. No appointments needed, no invitations required. Just stepping out and letting serendipity lead.

The Power of Pause

We desperately need these wonderful disruptions—gaps in our schedules, in-between moments, welcomed interruptions that pull us away from the task at hand. They break the nonstop flow of action and thought, shifting us from fast and focused to slow and spacious.

Our bodies crave these breaks. Moments to breathe deeply, reset, and refresh.

Our minds require gaps for wandering, for thoughts to simmer and settle. Ideas love to surface when we’re doing little or nothing at all.

In pauses, we crack open doors for the unexpected. We plant seeds without knowing what will grow.

“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves.”
Pico Iyer

Finding Your Rhythm

Pauses take many forms: daily rituals or spontaneous escapes, planned moments or sudden stops. Morning quiet or evening reflection. Brief interruptions or sabbatical retreats.

I’ve discovered my own rhythm. I start days with journaling, walk streets without hurry, and enjoy unhurried conversations. I’m still practising, still learning. Sometimes it feels like a disturbing interruption, like when my dog decides ‘Now it’s time for a walk”.

But what I want more of are pauses of nothingness: sitting on my favourite bench, gazing across the polder, letting idle moments unfold under the wide horizon. No agenda, no destination. Just like my friend’s husband, trusting the stroll to lead wherever it will.

How do you pause? What pulls you out of the flow and into the spaciousness of slow time?

Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is nothing at all.

My business partner and friend Ewen Le Borgne and I are quietly developing “Rebel with Pause” – a new project exploring how small moments of stillness can help heal work culture and discover new possibilities. What if we gave ourselves and our teams permission to breathe? There’s something beautiful waiting in those pauses. We’re curious about what emerges when we stop rushing long enough to notice what’s actually needed.

If this whispers to you, we’d love to connect.

The bit at the end

Exciting events on the horizon to support your exploration:

Join Street Wisdom in Amsterdam on Friday, 7th November at 16:00—slow down, stroll, and get delightfully lost on purpose. Sign up now to join!
Join the next Unhurried Conversation—a space to slow down, listen, and connect. We meet every 2nd Monday of the month. It’s free, and you’re warmly welcome. Sign up here.
For more Learning Moments, subscribe to my newsletter and get timely updates straight to your inbox.

Reach out, I’m always open for a chat.
Creatively, Nadia

P.S.The paintings featured on the blog are my own.