The Pause

Rest isn't the opposite of moving forward. It's how you prepare for what's next.

Episode 12 is about the pause. Two weeks of slowing down, doing less and letting the leaves change outside my window.

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

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So I took a pause, two weeks actually, and I want to talk about it. Not because anything dramatic happened, and not because I had some big revelation or life-changing moment, but because the pause itself was the thing. The rest was the meanwhile. Hi, welcome back to Meanwhile. I'm Dominique, episode 12. This one is about rest, real rest, the kind that feels weird at first and then feels like exactly what you needed. Let's go. It started with the nor'easter. Two weekends ago, a storm rolled through New York City. Gray skies, relentless rain, wind that meant business. The kind of weekend where even the city, which never really stops, slows down a little bit. I wore my highlighter yellow Lake Placid sweater, the one my mom got me on our last mother-daughter trip. Because when everything outside is gray, sometimes you have to bring your own color. Then I just laid low, played some video games, walked my dog, did a little cleaning, and napped, which I never do. I genuinely never nap, and it was glorious. Then the next week came, and the pause just continued. Here's the thing about rest. Once you give yourself permission, really give yourself permission, it's hard to stop. I don't mean that in a lazy way. I mean it in a this is exactly what my body and mind need way. This past week I took more naps. I did some adult coloring. I painted my toenails, I read a romance novel, my absolute favorite types of novels. Curled up under a blanket with the pets and their respective spots on the couch doing exactly what they do. Just existing, just being present. We watched some crabe shows. We found a fun snack cooking contest that was genuinely entertaining. And outside the window, the leaves were starting to change. Red, orange, yellow, the whole city slowly turning into something warmer and cosier and more beautiful. And I just let it all be. Now I'm a go-go-go person. Always have been. There's always something to do, somewhere to be, something to plan, something to check off the list. So at first the pause felt weird. A little restless, like I should be doing something. Like slowing down meant falling behind. But somewhere in the second gnat, something shifted. Because here's what I learned about rest. It's not the opposite of moving forward. It's how you prepare for what's next. I think a lot of us, especially women, especially anyone running a household, managing a career, taking care of people and pets and everything in between, struggle to give ourselves permission to stop. Even for a weekend, even for a week, even for a nap. We feel guilty about it. The rest has to be earned. Like stillness is the same as giving up. But it's not. It's really not. Slowing down doesn't mean you've stopped caring about your goals. It doesn't mean you're falling behind. It means you're human. Humans need rest. We need naps, romance novels, crime shows, pets on the couch, painted toenails. We need it all. That's not laziness. That's self-care. Real self-care, not the Instagram version, the actual version. Here's what two weeks of pause gave me that I didn't expect. A sense of something new coming. I can feel it, not in a specific way, not with a plan or a timeline or a clear destination, just a general quiet excitement, like the changing of the seasons, like autumn really settling in. The world is shifting into something new, and so am I. That's a meanwhile, that feeling right before the next chapter begins, when you don't know exactly what's coming, but you know something is. The rest, the two weeks of naps and cozy evenings and doing less, it prepared me for it. It cleared some space, it quieted the noise. I feel ready. Whatever comes next, I feel ready. So here's what I want to leave you with today. If you've been running on empty, stop, pause, even for a weekend, even for an afternoon, give yourself permission to rest, to do nothing, to watch a crime show, to read a book, cuddle with your pets, watch the world change outside with the changing of the seasons. Because sometimes the most meanwhile thing you can do is nothing at all. And then see how ready you feel for whatever comes next. Meanwhile, when was the last time you truly let yourself rest? No guilt, no productivity, just you. I'm Dominique. This is meanwhile, until the next meanwhile.