Summer Rewind: The Pause I didn't Plan
Updated: Sep 10
Hello, friend of the Pause ! 👋🏼
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve written an update-style kind of email, and I figure the week after Labor Day feels like a pretty perfect moment to pause and take stock of my summer as I remember it now - a string of trips around the world, living on boath coasts while building Pause the business, onboarding and serving my amazing clients, and deepening my meditation practices to new levels.
When I think about it, my summer wasn’t really all about travel (I just did one 3 week trip with 3-mini trips in it, 2 of which were in similar vicinity). It was experiencing different ways of life, and in a way pausing for what each had to offer. In all of them, it was an invitation to slow down, be present (one was mandatory with no devices!), and reconnect with old parts of myself.
Whether your summer consisted of a heads-down work season, a few family outings, dodging heat domes, or just trying to repeatedly remember where you left your earpods (or glasses), one thing to remember is that no matter what, the last three months were happening FOR you, and lessons are always here to learn.
As I reflect on my summer, here’s a few highlights, and the way it happened FOR me, and ways that I was being in service to my doing - regardless of geography, circumstances, or the itinerary.
So when you can, sit back and relax, grab your favorite beverage du jour, and enjoy this long form content on what I've been up to. 😎
The Iranian-Wisco Wedding:The Community & Connection Pause (June)
My kick off for the summer solstice was attending an Iranian-American (Ginger is from Wisconsin, so let's say Wisconsin/Iranian!) wedding in San Francisco, which was its own kind of pause. Overlooking ominous Alcatraz and the swimmers in Aquatic Park 200 feet below us, it was a picture perfect day to soak up the sun, friends, and the beauty all around us. This was my ‘connection pause’ of the summer - it felt great as a shared, community and friends experience. Community is a form of wealth we can very easily overlook while chasing the next milestone. Presence is one of the greatest gifts we can offer another person.
Witnessing love and commitment amidst the wildflowers and historic National Park land, while listening to Iranian music and eating more pomegranates than I have ever eaten in my lifetime in one sitting, was a blast.
We tell ourselves we'll reconnect when work slows down, when the milestone is made, when the quarter closes, when things get less busy. But things rarely get less busy, do they?
If you find yourself saying, “Once [activity] happens/is over/, then things will be easier/better/happier, this is usually a placeholder, and things don’t usually change after whatever it is you’re anticipating, happens.
Instead, try a pause where you connect with community that brings you joy, that you can enjoy now.
The Lesson: Prioritize community, and enjoy it fully when you can.
Timelessness: The Digital Device Pause…in a Castle (July)
The next step a few weeks later was what I’d consider a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in the middle of Northern Ireland, at Castle of Belle Isle, at a 4 day mindfulness family retreat. As the name implies, it was a spectacular setting, where X-Googler and fellow SIY (Search Inside Yourself) facilitator & friend Miguel had orchestrated a one-of-a-kind family mindfulness retreat, themed “Timelessness.”
The ‘castle rules’ was no digital devices or ‘digital’ anything in any public areas. We were, after all, timeless as we spent quality time with the kids (if they came with you), and ourselves. Miguel and his wife are master retreat organizers. Every detail was tended to, and castle vibes meant beauty and majestic settings everywhere you went. What a treat to retreat in one!
As the days went on, you could visibly feel and see our 60 person group settle into our new rhythm, a pace and attention span without devices tethered to our fingertips. You could almost sense the collective unwind, as we digitally paused, and became present as we redirected our attention to people, beautiful nature and eclectic rooms, and outdoor fires with marshmallows and sticks.
Being off our devices was visibly and experientially refreshing. My favorite part? We used big, golden gongs for waking up (if we heard them) and eating. As someone who heavily relies on an alarm clock to get up, I didn't trust myself it would work. I cheated and put my phone alarm on for day 1, but after that, I let go. Lo and behold, I woke up!
It was my first castle retreat, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. I met new friends, saw old ones, and read a real, paperback book for the first time in …years! Now, what’s old is new again …reading is a long-lost art that I’m adding back into my routine. I forgot how the simple act of reading a book can be rewarding, as much or more than the common audiobooks I’ve gravitated towards.
I also had the honor of facilitating an in-person breathwork session for many of the participants for a ‘bonus workshop’ - it was offered alongside daily self-growth AM adult sessions, and other workshops from a few other attendees who shared special gifts like yoga, meditation, and intuitive-life making workshops.
Timelessness was about how when we're present, time can expand. It did. We created intentional space to work on ourselves and reflect about our health, work, and community. And, it all happened in this incredible, castle and nature-bound surroundings. It was a powerful reminder of how much of our attention gets consumed before we even realize it.
The Lesson: My biggest takeaway from the castle was to step away from devices, as often as you possibly can!
Info on Timelessness retreats: https://timelessness.com/
N. Ireland Donegal: The Perspective Pause (July)
Right before the Castle, I headed with my best Irish lassie friend, Nora to Northern Ireland. As she zipped me around in her red Toyota, we hit Belfast, then a beautiful guest house manor, then around the lighthouses and seaside views of county Donegal - the most northwest of spaces in Northern Ireland. When we got to the pinnacle spot - the Cliffs of Donegal - between the spitting rain and the sea we could not see, we knew the ocean was there somewhere out in front of us, but the howling wind made the decision for us to not go any farther up the banister-free rock parth climb we weren’t too excited about. I felt very small in all of it, but in the best possible way.
Nature has a funny way of recalibrating us. Problems that felt enormous, suddenly looked a little less daunting. I was reminded that not every challenge requires immediate action, another strategy session, or a color coded spreadsheet. Sometimes we don't need a solution. We need a wider view.
The Foggy SF Gratitude Pause (July)
Before the Castle pause, there was the foggy 250th 4th of July in a very foggy San Francisco. No passport required, no plans, no epic adventure. Just the apartment, familiar people, fireworks in the fog, a summer bbq, and the comfort of being in familiar territory.
Sometimes we spend so much time looking for what's next that we miss what's already good. The familiar can become invisible simply because we've seen it so many times. For me, I was tired, and knew the fog wouldn't be ideal. I slept early, grateful for being home, and enjoying what was.
Contentment often lives in places we've stopped noticing.
(no photos it was too foggy!) 😶🌫️
India: The "Let Go of Control" Pause (August)
And this brings us to the last of my epic travels abroad: Lucknow, India. (~300 miles SE of Delhi)
Six days immersed in my in-laws' world brought a very different kind of pause. Different rhythms, different norms, amazing and very good Indian food, constant activity, new people, familiar faces, and what I can only lovingly describe as organized chaos.
I didn't always know what the plan was (my Google translator wasn’t either, altho it tried). I didn't know what meal was coming next, where my suitcase belonged, or quite how much food I was going to be encouraged to eat, which turned out to be approximately 400% more than expected. And, please, please don’t ask me about the driving. Let's just say I am a-ok to always be a back-seater for any drive across town while there.
At home, I have systems, routines, expectations, calendars, and a fairly strong relationship with knowing what happens next. In Lucknow, many of those disappeared, and I realized my job wasn't to manage the experience. My job was to experience it. Presence grows when we stop needing everything to go according to plan.
What's Next?
The Castle taught me about undistracted presence.
The wedding taught me about connection.
The 4th of July in SF taught me about gratitude.
Donegal taught me about perspective.
Lucknow taught me about releasing outcomes and going with the flow (and food LOL).
Different places. Different experiences. Different kinds of pause. Yet underneath all of them was the same invitation, as I channel my inner Ram Dass: Be here, now.
Because the pause isn't a destination... It's a way of experiencing wherever you already are.
Whatever your summer was: the big trip, the hard season, the unexpected detour, the milestone you worked your butt off for, or simply a few good taco Tuesdays, I hope you can find a moment to notice it.
We don't have to wait for the perfect vacation or the perfectly cleared calendar to celebrate the little wins, the silver linings, and the moments that remind us we're actually living this life.
Sometimes the most meaningful pause is simply noticing that we made it here (and just celebrating that in itself!).
So as we head into this next season, What kind of pause do you need right now?
Less input? More connection? More gratitude? A wider perspective? Or perhaps, like me in India, a little less control? 🤓
I hope you have a wonderful transition to this next few months, and know it is all happening for you.
Much ❤️,
PS If you enjoy this type of long-form blog post let me know, and I will see how to incorporate more update-like info in the future.
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