To pause for a moment.
To observe before we act.

Throughout life, many of us learn to react quickly.

To respond.
To explain.
To protect.

But when we begin to sort through what is within us,
we discover something else.

That we do not always need to follow the first impulse.

That we can remain a little longer.

In what is happening.

In what is felt.
In what has not yet been named.

There, in the stillness,
something new can emerge.

Not as a reaction.
But as a response.

And perhaps that is where responsibility begins.

Not as something we have to carry.
But as something we can stand in.

Warmly, Rita 🌿💛