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When the World Keeps Spinning, and Yours Stands Still


The sun rises and sets. The emails pile up in your inbox. Your friends post photos of their weekend plans, their work promotions, their ordinary, Tuesday-night dinners. The world, in all its relentless, beautiful, and sometimes maddening normalcy, just keeps spinning forward.

But inside your own heart, time has stopped.

Following the news of a failed cycle, a painful loss, or a difficult diagnosis, it can feel like you’ve been encased in a soundproof bubble. You can see the world moving outside, but you can’t feel its rhythm. You are living in a different timezone, a different reality, where everything is suspended in the heavy air of your own grief.

This profound sense of disconnect—of being utterly out of sync with the rest of the world—is one of the most isolating experiences on this journey.

The Stillness is Not a Flaw; It's a Function

Why does this happen? Why can’t we just "keep up"?

Because your heart and mind have hit a necessary pause button. Grief and disappointment are not small things to be brushed aside. They are significant emotional events that require immense energy to process. This feeling of stillness is a protective mechanism. It’s your system’s way of saying, "Whoa. Something big just happened here. We need to stop everything and tend to this wound before we can even think about moving forward."

The world, however, did not get the memo. And so, the jarring disconnect continues.

You scroll through social media and see a different universe, one where people are worried about trivial things that feel a million miles away from your reality. You sit in a work meeting, listening to conversations about quarterly goals, and it feels like you're watching a foreign film without subtitles. Even the change of seasons can feel like a personal affront. How dare the leaves change color when my entire world has gone gray?

Your Permission Slip to Be Still

If you are in this quiet, suspended place, we want to hand you a permission slip.

  • You have permission to be out of sync. You do not need to force yourself back into the world’s rhythm.
  • You have permission to not care about the small stuff. It is okay if you don't have the capacity to engage with things that feel meaningless right now.
  • You have permission to be unproductive. Your only "job" is to breathe and get through this moment. That is more than enough.
  • You have permission to mute the noise. The unfollow and mute buttons are acts of profound self-care. Use them liberally to create a quieter, safer digital space for yourself.

This stillness is not a sign of weakness; it is a profound sign of healing. It is the season your heart needs before anything new can grow. It is not a void; it is a sacred space.

How to Honor the Stillness

This isn't a state to be "fixed," but a season to be honored. While you are here, in the quiet, a few things can help.

Find one small anchor to the present moment. Don't worry about the whole day, just this minute. What is one small thing that feels real and true right now? It might be the warmth of a cup of tea in your hands, the feeling of a soft blanket, the gentle weight of a pet on your lap, or the rhythm of your own breath.

Connect with the few who "get it." You don't need the whole world to understand, but you do need your people. This is why community—a trusted friend, a loving partner, or a group like ours at GrowingMyFamily—is so vital. You need a space where you can say, "My world has stopped," and be met with a chorus of, "We know. We'll sit here in the quiet with you."

Friend, your world has not stopped forever. It has just paused to honor a great effort and a deep sorrow. It will begin to turn again, slowly at first, when it is ready. Until then, be so, so gentle with yourself in the quiet.

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