Learning Moments

Finding a little inspiration hidden in each letter

Together with Tenneson Woolf, Saoirse and Wendy, I’ve been unpacking p-a-u-s-e. It was so much fun to do it. I’m still amazed—and touched—by the wisdom that emerged simply by listening to this little word together.

Before you read it, why not try it yourself?

Take a sheet of paper and write P-A-U-S-E in big letters, leaving some space between them. Then unpack the word, letter by letter. What comes to mind when you see the P? What other words start with P? What images or feelings appear? Keep going with each letter and see where it takes you.

When you’re done, lean back and take a look at your harvest. You might be surprised by what was hiding in pause.

Here is ours.

P is for presence, but also for playful, peaceful and purposeful. Pause invites presence. Being here. Really here, nowhere else, nowhere next. Pause doesn’t always have to be serious. Sometimes it is an invitation to play, to wander, to follow a curiosity simply because it feels good.

A is for artful moments, full of attention and awareness. Paying attention is so powerful. When we slow down, our eyes and ears open. Ordinary things can become visible and, yes, sometimes even magic. The sound of rain on a hot summer day, a dandelion blooming in between a crack in the pavement, the ripples of sand. These tiny wonders of the everyday, I call them artful moments. Perhaps there is an art to pausing, too.

U is for the unexpected. For the things that surface when we stop trying hard and let things happen.

A pause can look unproductive. It’s so often the opposite: Quietly productive and intensely inspiring. Full of possibility. A bit like an empty teacup. We can fill it; a full one, not. An empty mind has room for the unexpected, the unknown. Pausing can be a way to empty, to become ready again. When we stop filling every moment, something else may have room to surface: a thought, a feeling, an idea, a different perspective.

S is for stillness and softness. When we step out of the busyness, into a moment of quietness, we can let things be as they are. To simply be and see. A gentle and generous moment with ourselves. Less pushing, less striving, more allowing. And funnily, with the word see comes also sea. I love pauses at the sea. For its rhythm. Its constant movement. The vastness and sense of spaciousness. A pause creates space to notice what we might otherwise miss. And perhaps it is in that space that serendipity finds us.

And finally, E: Ease. Energy. Exhale. Sometimes a small pause is enough to help our energy return. We only have to permit ourselves to step away from the endless effort. Slow down for a moment. Exhale deeply, emptying our busy minds.

*****

Pause holds so many shades, colours, sounds, and possibilities

A pause, a moment of nothing.
Yet it is never nothing.
It’s an act of generosity towards ourselves.

To be. To reconnect. To savour.

What does the word pause awaken in you?

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The bit at the end

Exciting events on the horizon to support your exploration:

• What if the most rebellious thing you could do right now is pause?
  Pause with us—find out more about Rebel with a Pause here and join us for a free monthly 30-minute pause.
• Curious to experience Street Wisdom for yourself — inspiring, surprising, and quietly powerful? Reach out, and let’s wander with wonder through the streets, alleys, and bridges of Alkmaar, Amsterdam or Nijmegen. Learn more about Street Wisdom here.
• Join the next Unhurried Conversation—a space to slow down, listen, and connect. We meet on the 2nd Monday of every 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.