What if stillness — that quiet, unoccupied space — is exactly what our minds and bodies crave? We live in a world that constantly celebrates moving and being busy. Productivity is praised, hustle is glorified, and idleness is seen as laziness.

Stillness isn’t just the absence of movement. It’s the presence of awareness. It’s the exhale after pushing, the pause before the next step. Yet for many, it feels uncomfortable or even threatening, myself included. We fill silence with noise, blank space with screens, boredom with busyness. Why? Because stillness can bring us face-to-face with emotions we’ve been avoiding.

Truth bomb: avoiding discomfort doesn’t protect us from it — it prolongs it. Reclaiming stillness is about making peace with presence. It’s saying, “I don’t need to perform to have value.” It’s trusting that rest, boredom, or reflection are not wasted time.

Stillness also reconnects us with creativity and clarity. It invites insight that can’t surface when we’re constantly distracted. It’s possible to find our most meaningful thoughts — or emotional breakthroughs — in the quiet moments that was once resisted.

You don’t have to escape to a cabin in the woods to find stillness, although I did this July, and it was glorious and the closest I will ever get to camping. Start small. Five minutes of silence in the morning. A walk with your phone in your pocket without it connected to earbuds or headphones, or if you’re feeling bold, without your phone altogether. You could try lying on the floor and doing absolutely nothing. Let stillness be a practice, not a punishment.

Choosing stillness is a radical act of resistance. Let’s shift our perspective on stillness from it being unproductive to a needed moment to reconnect with ourselves.

Wisdom for the Road

• Stillness is presence, not absence. Embrace quiet moments as opportunities for awareness, rest, and deep connection with yourself, not as empty or wasted time.
• Avoiding discomfort prolongs it. Meeting uncomfortable emotions in stillness helps you process and move through them instead of running away.
• Start small and be gentle with yourself. Even five minutes of silence or an unplugged walk can reclaim stillness and nurture creativity, clarity, and calm.

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