Greetings, beautiful soul 🫀

I'm writing to you on a Monday, which is unusual for me. I'm going on a retreat tomorrow, and I wanted to write to you in real time.

Honestly, just the fact that I'm doing that feels like proof of how much can change in a year.

Because a year ago, going on a retreat felt like a distant dream. In survival mode, pausing feels out of the question — you feel like you need to keep going, even when the only thing you truly need is a time out. We've got bills to pay. People depending on us. It feels like walking a tightrope, one wrong step away from stumbling.

But here's the thing: if you don't stop, the Universe has its ways of stopping you.

I know this because it happened to me. My body started telling me to stop — through anxiety, depression, and burnout. It was stealing my life away from me. And eventually, that's what led me to give myself permission to pause. It didn't happen overnight, and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

But man, has it paid off.

Lately, I've been noticing a lot of unfinished business closing. Yesterday, I spent time decluttering my wardrobe — and what struck me was how much energy old things hold. The clothes we don't wear anymore. The things we keep out of guilt, or habit, or some version of ourselves we're no longer sure we are.

When I cleared them out, I felt it physically.

That lightness.
Space, quite literally, being made.

Last week I wrote about peace — and how to gain it, we must first create space. (Read it here if you missed it.) And creating space so often begins with a pause.

Decluttering a wardrobe is a pause.
Going on a retreat is a pause.
Even taking a breath before you respond to someone is a pause.

And in those pauses, things move. Things heal. Things arrive.

So before I go quiet tomorrow, I want to leave you with this:

Where in your life are you waiting for permission to pause?

What might shift — what might heal, arrive, or become clear — if you finally gave it to yourself?

You don't have to earn it. You don't have to be burnt out to deserve it.

The pause is available to you now.

I'll be back with you soon, carrying whatever the retreat brings.

With love and presence,
Essi xx