Exploring What It Means to Pause

A pause is more than a break in the conversation.

A pause can be a spark of curiosity. It can be requesting consent to go deeper on a topic. Pausing can give you space to think through a decision and consider if it’s aligned with your values. And taking a pause can mean making space to Flaunt Your Fire.

India digs into the ways taking a pause can show up in life, what taking a pause from Flaunt Your Fire meant in 2022, and why creating space to pause is so vital to our wellbeing.

Listen on your favorite podcast player or keep reading to learn:

• How the physical clutter created by moving and combining households impacted India’s ability to create

• Why India pressed pause to reevaluate if her content was aligned with her values and intention

• Why she chose to focus on the life her business is in service to

Expanding and Redefining the Pause

On the Flaunt Your Fire® podcast, India Jackson (she/her) acknowledges that it’s been a while since she has released a podcast, or a newsletter, or been on social media.

She says that while she’s understood the importance of pausing for self-care, it’s never been an easy thing for her to put into practice. But 2022 presented an opportunity to explore expanding her definition of pausing.

“I feel like 2022 was very much [about] redefining what pausing, self-care, and so many other pieces that just go into making sure that you can keep the fire burning.

Physical and Mental Clutter

In July, after six months of searching, India “hopped on the rollercoaster ride” of purchasing her first home. With closing dates pushed back more than once, she ended up living in the midst of a lot of boxes, which made working difficult. 

When she was finally able to close on her house in late August, as someone who considers herself a minimalist, she was shocked at how much stuff her family had.

Consolidating multiple households into one, including a forgotten storage unit and remaining equipment from India’s photography business was overwhelming and took a couple of months to settle.

By October, she says her office space was finally set up enough to record a podcast, but she “wasn’t fully present. I was creating, but I wasn’t honoring how I felt about what I was creating.”

Pressing Pause

At that point, India found herself questioning if the content she was putting out and how she was showing up was aligned with her values and intentions.

“And truthfully, there were more times than not that I didn’t feel great when I was showing up and being visible.”

She recalls a speaking engagement where she was covering topics she’s covered a million times, but in a new way, and by the end of the presentation she was sweaty and nervous and “feeling almost outside of myself.”

She’s witnessed her clients having those experiences when they have lots of ideas and desire to create, but a cluttered space, internally or externally. 

India realized she needed to give herself space to process and declutter.

“How can I create some space to process why things feel so challenging?…What small step can I take today?”

In the midst of that process, her partner’s father passed away inside their home. 

“Content and podcasting, they were the last thing on my mind…I decided to focus on the life that I built my business to be in service to.”

Let Healing Take the Lead

Following that loss, India says, “I had to acknowledge that there was no plan I could make to get through this tumultuous time. So I let healing take the lead.”

As tempting as it may have been to go over, under, or around those experiences, she went through them and brought her visibility and energy to her family and loved ones. 

As part of her processing, India reconnected with her therapist and began doing EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), which is a type of therapy that has been proven to provide support and transformation for people who have experienced trauma.

“Life has been life-ing…and I chose to pause for me as I would suggest that a friend or client do for themselves when things just get to be too much.”

She says that while she hasn’t regularly shared so much about her life and journey on the podcast, she wants it to be a reminder that “it is safe to be a human in all iterations of your journey.”

It’s easy for content creators to forget “that when we are creating content, when we are showing up for our people, that we still have permission to be a whole human.”

She continues, “Let’s take care of ourselves so we can take care of one another. And when necessary, don’t forget to press pause.”

Ready to Dive Deeper?:

Want to be part of a network and community without all the awkwardness and elevator pitches? The Pause on the Play® Community allows you to join conversations, get support on your journey, and be in community with a group of people fostering interdependence.

Join us for access to events like Collaboration Speed Dating, where we get together to pair up potential collaborators, partners, guests, and speakers in a fun, lighthearted setting.

Membership in The Pause on the Play® Community gets you these events and more, workshops, community conversation, Q&As, and our on-demand library of resources and replays.