A Life With Room To Breathe: Letting Go Of Being “Busy” And Embracing A Slower Pace
Episode 16: A Life With Room To Breathe
This episode addresses the “busy” culture we find ourselves navigating in modern society. I share my desire for a slower, more intentional life and how that aligns with the most authentic version of myself. I hope you feel inspired by what I share and give yourself permission to just be.
Episode Details
Summary
In this episode, I’m reflecting on what this new season is asking of me and the kind of life I want to create moving forward. As spring begins, I’ve been thinking about what I want to release and how I want to move ahead with more intention.
I share how the idea of slow living has been resonating, but not quite fully capturing what I need. Instead, I’ve been drawn to the idea of spacious living. For me, this means creating a rhythm that allows for both movement and pause, where action is balanced with open space to think, feel, and simply be.
I reflect on how different environments have shaped my understanding of busyness and how easy it is to fall into patterns that no longer feel aligned. Over time, I’ve realized that the life I want to build now is not about returning to who I was, but about honoring who I have become. That means letting go of old identities, old habits, and even small pieces of life that no longer feel true.
This episode is an invitation to redefine what balance looks like for you. To consider where you might be holding onto a version of yourself that has already shifted, and to explore what it would feel like to create more space in your days, your routines, and your inner world.
This episode is for you if…
You’re ready to let go of hustling and are looking for more balance in your life
You’re ready to release old patterns and step into a new version of yourself
You want to build a more intentional life and move more slowly
You’re feeling stuck and not sure how to move forward
You’re stepping into a new version of yourself and ready to embrace your new identity
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Welcome to The Shoreline, where we explore the tender in-between seasons of the human experience. My name is Kim, and I'm here to support you as you navigate your next becoming. Here, we don't fix, we listen. We don't rush, we allow. Hello and welcome. If you're new here, I'm so glad that you found me, and if you're returning, welcome back. We are shifting into a new season. Aerie season has begun, as well as spring. And I don't know about you, but I'm feeling just really excited to move forward. And the last couple of weeks, I've been really thinking about not only what I want to let go of, but also how I want to move forward. Um, the beginning of the year, January and February, felt like there was a lot of movement and a lot of things going on. And then lately, I've just been kind of digesting everything that's happened, and I really had to slow down. Um, so I've been trying to just take time and space to support my body, and also to just kind of reflect on where I'm at. And I've been thinking a lot about what I'm building, and how I want to kind of live my life going forward, and what my values are. And lately, I've been thinking about, um, this idea of slow living. I think there's been a lot of shifting that's happened, um, collectively, to kind of create, like, this slow living kind of movement. And a lot of people are slowing down. And for me, I feel like this... the idea of slow living doesn't quite fit all the way. It's like, yes, I want... I want to move slower. I want to be intentional. But it doesn't quite encapsulate everything that's important to me. So I've decided to reframe it for myself into spacious living. I remember reading something about one of the elements in my human design chart. And it was saying, like, you need to have time and space in your calendar, in your life, to just kind of like make a cup of tea and look out the window. And that kind of daydreaming energy really resonated with me. And it kind of led me to this idea of spacious living, where I want to take action and move forward and like move my body and be doing things. But then there's like these beautiful little pockets of space in my day where I can just kind of let my mind wander. And I think that's something that's really important. I remember back when I spent a semester in France studying and when I was teaching English in France, the idea of being busy meant something different to me there. Being busy, like there would be maybe two to three things on my calendar. And I was like, there's so much going on. And coming back to the US, being busy meant something totally different. I found myself, you know, scheduling things in very short increments of time. And when I first came back, it was really just like a shock to my system. And then slowly I kind of acclimated and assimilated back into this culture of being busy. And now, fast forward to now, I feel like it no longer aligns with me and what is important to me. And also, I think we've just gotten to this place collectively where everyone is overwhelmed and our nervous systems are just overloaded in general. And so this idea, coming back to this idea of spacious living, it means to me just making sure that there's balance and that there's space to breathe and to have moments where you can be a little bit bored. I think we think of that as such a luxury now, but really, that's such an important part of living and also living as a creative. I think that a lot of people talk about, like, their best ideas come when they're in the shower. And why is that? It's because it's a place where you can't really be tethered to your phone. You're not looking at a screen. You're just focusing on the task at hand, and your mind just has that space to reflect and go down little rabbit holes and daydream a bit. And I think that we need more of that in our day to day. And having so much available to us at all times not only creates this decision fatigue, but it doesn't give us the ability to kind of turn off. We always have choices of like things to do, places we can go, products we can consume. And I just wonder what would happen if there were fewer options kind of going back to when I lived in France on Sundays, nothing was open. You couldn't go to the grocery store. You couldn't go to Target or whatever it is. And that time was really intentional, and it was meant to connect with family and friends and like have a long lunch and go for a walk. And I wonder what might happen if you spent a day like that once a week. We have the choice and the power to create that for ourselves. And I've tried to adopt that for myself as much as possible. And it's not always possible, but I really value that spaciousness. And yes, it does feel like a luxury, or I can feel that pressure to pack in my schedule. But it's something that I think is really important, and it really does serve me well when I can create space in my days, weeks, months, to just kind of let the universe lead a bit, let my body and my intuition lead, and not have, you know, a strict schedule to adhere to. And that's not saying that consistency and discipline aren't important. It's finding that balance of, you know, what are my intentions, what is important to me, what are those must haves in my week, and then where can I also insert space? And as I've been thinking about this, I've been trying to redefine what busy looks like to me. And it looks different from maybe what I've done in the past and where I've been at in the past. And when I had my jewelry company, busy meant something very different. And the demands of my company and my life were very different from where I'm at now. And I was also just in a different place. And so busy at that time is going to look different from what busy means to me now. And I think that one of the things that kept coming up for me when I first kind of started letting go years ago was this idea of like going back. Like I needed to kind of pause and go on this journey. And then I would go back and add in all of the things I was doing before and kind of come back as a new, better version of myself. But that's not really how change works. And so one of the things that I am leaving behind as I shift into a new season and a new year is this idea of going back. I am a different version of myself than I was before, and I really want to honor that and kind of build from this new place versus trying to build a bridge back to who I was. And that's been quite a process of just really getting clear on what's important to me now and honoring that. And it can look like big things like, you know, my career changed and what's, you know, what's important to me now might be a little bit different and, you know, how I hold my commitments and, you know, the importance of my family, that has just deepened over time. But then there's also like little things that are really, I'm finding hard to let go of, of like, you know, years ago, I was someone who was very much like a city person, and I loved going out to Happy Hour and trying new restaurants and like going to shows and being kind of out and about. And slowly over time, that has become less important to me and less aligned with where I'm at now. I think it started eight years ago when I got my dog, Koshi. She was just a puppy when I got her, and, you know, caring for a young animal like that requires a lot. And then I think over the years, we developed such a close connection and that most of the time, I really just want to be in a space with her. And that means letting go of going out to eat as much or like going to shows or being away. Like I found myself just wanting to be home with her and going for walks and being out in nature and doing things that we both enjoyed together. And it's something that just kind of happened over time. And now eight years later, I look back and I feel very, very different from that person who got Koshy eight years ago in a good way. And I think that when you kind of evolve over time like that, you don't see the changes as drastic in real time, but then you walk down the path and you look back and you see how far you've come. And I think that combined with kind of bigger, more dramatic shifts like my dad passing away last year, that happened, and I really just changed overnight. And it took a long time for the dust to settle, but I knew as soon as that happened, I would not ever be the same person. And so there's a lot that's ebbing and flowing and shifting and coming together. And I feel like where I'm at now is kind of coming back to this, to this refinement, to finding balance and creating a really beautiful, spacious life where everything is just curated for me and who I am in this moment. And I really value this idea of pure presence, letting go of distraction and whatever I'm doing. I'm doing that 100%. So when I'm here with you, I'm not thinking about anything else. I'm here and nothing else exists. And then when I leave this space, I completely let it go and I move into whatever is next. And I want to create that intentional space for myself. And really just cultivate an environment where I'm, you know, able to really explore and support my creativity. And I will say it's... it's challenging in a culture living in a city where everyone is kind of wearing their busy badges with honor. And, you know, I've often thought about like why... I know why I'm here and why I chose Seattle to kind of put down roots. And those values still ring true for me. And sometimes, you know, I think to myself, it would be so much easier if I moved to a place where collectively all of these values were just more built into how we live. And what I kind of came to is that like sometimes I think that you're planted where you are in order to be a leader and to kind of stick out. And so I don't think it's an accident or a wrong choice that I've chosen Seattle as my home and as the place where I want to be long-term and put down roots. I think that it's actually an intentional part of my path, and it's up to me to kind of be the leader and show the way, because I don't think that I'm unique in my desires at all. I think that there's just an opportunity here to be the one who's kind of shining the light down on this alternative path that's leading with my spaciousness instead of my busyness. And how can I use that as a way to support others and use it as an opportunity for connection instead of trying to just meet people at their busyness and say, well, I'm busy too. And it's like, well, everyone is busy. Busy just really means like you have things that you care about. And that's really great and wonderful. And it often creates a disconnect. And so like, I would love to kind of just open myself up and say, like, hey, like, I'm intentionally trying to build spaciousness into my life. And if that's something that intrigues you, like, you can do it, too. You don't have to continue to wear your busy badge. You can come down this path, too. And I wonder what balance might look like for you and your life. And maybe there are things on your calendar that you want to let go of, or maybe you're in a season of too much spaciousness and it's time to start thinking about what you can add in to create balance. But wherever you're at, you know, know that you're not alone. Even if it feels like you're alone in your experience, I promise you, you're not. You just maybe haven't found your people yet or others who are kind of walking the same path as you. But we're all connected. We're all in this together, and, yeah, I just want you to know that no matter where you are, you're not walking alone. And so I hope that you found this helpful today. I feel like, yeah, I just, I don't have any great takeaways, but I just wanted to share a little bit about, you know, where I'm at in real time and, like, what I've been thinking about without really having all or any of the answers for you, because truly only you know what's best for you, and all I can do is share my experience and what I'm going through, and I hope that some or all of it resonates with you wherever you're at. And so that's what I have for you today, and I hope you take good care while the waves carry you closer. Know that your next version is already waiting on the shore.
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Kim Kogane is a writer and intuitive guide helping you navigate the tender in-between seasons. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her dog, Cauchy, and three cats. Learn more about Kim.
