There are moments in life that feel so overwhelming they press pause on everything. Not just the world around you, but something deep inside. You are caught—suspended in the weight of it all—unable to move forward, unable to process where you’ve been. The concept of a future dissolves, except for one inescapable truth: nothing will ever be the same again.
These moments are disorienting. You reach for something to steady yourself, something familiar, something solid—but nothing holds. What you need is for the world to pause with you, to grant you space to make sense of it all, to orient, to integrate, to be ready before stepping forward again. But that is not what anyone ever gets. The world keeps moving. Responsibilities persist. Life does not wait for readiness.
Our society values functioning above all else. It is an expectation so ingrained that even in deep distress, the instinct to keep going overrides the need to pause. It has been embedded so deeply that even as you are unraveling, you tell yourself to keep going, to push through, to be okay. But forcing movement in the midst of stillness only deepens the overwhelm.
If this is where you are right now, know this:
You are not alone.
There is nothing wrong with the pause.
There is nothing wrong with feeling unsteady.
It is not a failure to be in between—between what was and what will be.
The world does not grant time freely. And yet, here you are, caught between needing it and knowing it will not wait.
You are allowed to be here, exactly as you are.