Sometimes we leave a conversation simply glad we came. Noticing what made that time enjoyable can help us discover what we’d like someone to experience when they spend time with us.

While we’re trying to understand everything that’s happening in the world, we can lose contact with the life we’re actually living. Sometimes a simple question from someone brings us back—and gives us a chance to share something of our own.

We sit down to check one thing and come away carrying worries we hadn’t expected. What happens when we notice how that feels—and make a little room for something we’d like to give our attention to?

Everything seems to arrive carrying the same message: This is important. Pay attention to me. But perhaps we don’t have to decide quite so quickly what actually deserves our attention.

Sometimes we spend enormous energy trying to figure out what to do next. But perhaps clarity isn’t the same as certainty. Maybe we don’t need to know how the story ends. Maybe we already know what matters enough for now.

We tell ourselves we’ll get to it “when things settle down.” But old things disappear and new ones take their place. Maybe the question isn’t when life will become quieter, but what matters enough to make room for while it doesn’t.

We all seem to have an Internal Department of Reasons Why This Won’t Work. And sometimes it’s right. But “Will this work?” may not always be the most important question.

Not every minute needs to have a purpose. Sometimes a little unclaimed space—a song, a breath, a thought about someone we love—leaves room for something unexpected to appear.