Like most of us, I move through my days juggling multiple schedules – work, family, kids, sports practices, community commitments, and events that fill both my calendar and my heart. Life is full, fast, and often loud. Yet this past week, and especially over the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, I was given something I didn’t realize I needed so deeply: permission to pause.
This year, I chose flourish as my word. Not hustle. Not achieve. Flourish. I imagined growth that feels rooted rather than rushed. Looking back now, I realize that choosing a silence course was one of the most intentional ways I could honor that word.
At first, silence felt uncomfortable. We are conditioned to fill space – to respond, to react, to keep moving. But as the quiet settled in, it began to speak louder than the chaos I had grown used to. In that stillness, I learned so much – clearly, honestly, and without distraction. Silence didn’t take anything away; it revealed what was already there.
In the quiet, I began a deep dive inward. Without the roles I play daily – professional, parent, volunteer, community member – I met myself simply as I am. I learned to talk to my body and, more importantly, to listen to it. To notice where I was holding tension. To acknowledge what I had been ignoring. To recognize what truly nourishes me and what quietly drains me.
Photo provided by Pooja Thakkar
One of the most profound realizations during this experience was understanding that a big part of who we are is also who we are not. Silence gently stripped away expectations, labels, and assumptions that no longer align with my truth. In their place, clarity emerged. Not loud or demanding – just steady and grounded.
This quiet became the beginning of a long-lasting friendship with myself. A reminder that being my own biggest friend means staying true to who I am, even when life pulls me in many directions. It means choosing alignment over noise, awareness over autopilot.
As I move forward into the rest of the year, I am carrying this pause with me. Not as an escape from responsibility, but as a foundation for how I want to continue – intentionally, authentically, and with strength. Flourishing, I am learning, does not always look like more growth on the outside. Sometimes it looks like deeper roots within.
Perhaps the reset we all need is not louder goals or fuller calendars, but quieter moments of listening. Because when we choose stillness with intention, silence has a remarkable way of guiding us back to ourselves – and helping us truly flourish.
As this new year begins, where is life asking you to Pause. Breathe. Listen?
Pooja Thakkar is working to build connections through cuisine. You can read her column each week in the pages of The Reporter.