A Pause Without Justification

She had learned, with some effort, that not every pause required justification.

There had been a time when stillness unsettled her—when an unoccupied hour suggested neglect, or worse, a failure of purpose. She had once believed that a woman must always be progressing toward something: improvement, usefulness, regard. Idleness, she was certain, invited judgment.

That conviction no longer governed her.

Sadie Sweater & Skirt MEGAPACK by CAROL´S STORE

CAROL´S MAINSTORE
CAROL´S MARKETPLACE

The present moment asked nothing of her. It did not demand explanation, nor did it offer consequence. And for perhaps the first time, she found this absence not alarming, but restorative. There was a quiet satisfaction in standing precisely where no decision was required.

She had reached this understanding gradually, through disappointment rather than triumph. Expectations, once held with confidence, had softened; not abandoned, but adjusted. What remained was a clearer sense of herself—less eager to be agreed with, less inclined to arrange her days for the comfort of others.

If this was a season between intentions, she did not resent it.

On the contrary, she suspected it might be necessary.

For it is in such intervals—unremarkable, unobserved—that one becomes most honestly acquainted with one’s own mind.