Every year, flying into Vancouver, I used to rush — call a taxi and head straight to my destination. The journey from Ukraine to Canada is exhausting, yet somehow I never allowed myself to pause.

We often live between point A and point B — and miss the life that exists in the pauses between them.

The year before last, I changed that habit for the first time. Instead of hurrying on, I stopped at the airport for a coffee.

Arriving 20 minutes earlier or later doesn’t really matter. But 20 minutes to reset your energy and well-being — that’s a game changer.

So I paused, ordered a coffee, took the first sip — and felt a sense of completion.
The hardest part was behind me.

Then came joy and a gentle excitement.
Soon I’d be hugging my Canadian girls: my mom, my sister, my nieces.

And also — the present moment.
I’m already here. Tired, because I can’t sleep on planes, and at the same time full — because travel gives me this feeling of life, movement, the courage to be.

Now it’s my small ritual.
Pause. Have a coffee (and now it’s decaf — jet lag is ahead). Feel the moment.

Because energy isn’t in the rush.
It’s in the moments we allow ourselves to live.

From the airport, it’s about 40 more minutes to get home.
But after this short pause, it feels like a different road — like a new journey, with fresh energy, not just a continuation of a long exhaustion.

And this is how we can live each day.
Not waiting for the evening to finally rest —
but catching small moments along the way.

Awareness of the present moment gives more energy than coffee.
Though with coffee — it’s simply more atmospheric ☕

And maybe it’s not about doing more or faster,
but about feeling more.

If this made you smile,
if it brought a little warmth inside —
you can treat me to a coffee for a new story ☕

Thank you for reading and for treating me to a coffee

Buy me a coffee

Pause to Feel

Thank you for reading and for treating me to a coffee

You look like you need a coffee

Morning Fog in Heidelberg