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I was chatting with a friend the other day who was pondering whether or not she should take a pause from her work at this particular time when her kids are young.

My advice to her? It's okay if you take a pause. The life experiences you gain during it will make your work stronger.

Without conscious thought, these words flowed out of me as I fully embraced my word of the year and reemerged from my own pause.

A pause where I stopped publishing on my blog. A pause where I stopped sending my newsletter. A pause where I backed down on the hours spent at my easel, painting. A pause where I limited the time I spent behind my computer, designing. A pause where I didn't actively market myself or seek out work.

I say I stopped, but I didn't. I paused.

I focused on life and living.

I spent a month in California with my grandson whom I hadn't been able to see in over a year.

I met my newest grandson in Brooklyn.

I hiked with my husband, John, and reconnected with friends.

I continued pouring my old guilt and shame — and processing my new dreams and ideas — into my journal.

And in that time, I completed a gorgeous new visitors guide for Visit Finger Lakes and a cookbook for Birkett Mills. I entered a plein air event in Clifton Springs, where I won a juror's award and sold the painting. I did a plein air demo in front of a 50-person bus tour in Canandaigua.

A pause with intention is not a hard stop.

It meant putting certain things aside to go deeper into life experiences.

It meant leaving space to manifest creativity and light.

It meant allowing time for depth to naturally develop, even without actively practicing a skill.

A pause allows us the break we need from the patterns and routines that govern our day-to-day, so that we can be present in life.

And. Pauses do not come without challenge.

With each and every pause I take, I face the challenge of making space — and not immediately filling it up.

I face the challenge of getting introspective — and not backing away from what comes up when I do.

I face the challenge of prioritizing what's really important — and removing the guilt associated with letting go of the rest.

A pause, in and of itself, is hard work.

Particularly when we're raised and living in a society where productivity has been so tightly wound into our self-worth and identity.

A pause is a practice.

Each time we do it?

Our work will be better for it. Our relationships will be better for it. We will be better for it.