My friend and I (Parker) were out tonight in the sparkling little downtown of Edmonds at Shell Creek restaurant. As we talked our conversation plunged into the depths of what life is; relationships, meaning, purpose, faith, passion, love, family, calling, vocation. Halfway through our conversation my friend looked at me and said, "What you need is a selah Pam."

"A selah" I restated curiously.

Smiling, elated he knew a word I didn't, my friend explained."Selah, is the place in the music where one pauses, rests."

 I instantly thought of comma's, you see I have a crush on commas.

Truth be told, as a writer I am addicted to comma's. I said it; I'm a comma addict, I overuse them. 

Comma's they are the ultimate pacing tool for a writer. They allow us to do all sorts of magic, have you noticed? I can slow you down, or highlight, words. I can bring emphasis to something, provocative. I can take what should have been one sentence, string it to two, then add three or four more items for variation in sentence rythym and pace.

 As I mulled over my friends advice I was elated. Of course it is the national Selah, comma week! I love the week between Christmas and New Years for this very reason; it feels like a comma, a selah. The one time of year where the whole wide world exhales simultaneously, one gigantic pause, comma selah.

Just as our bodies need daily rest to regenerate and optimize so to do our businesses and personal lives. What better time than this to pause and reflect.

I'm taking the next few days to orchestrate situational analysis and business reflection exercises for my clients to use as they prepare for a new year. In the process I am also going to take my friends advice and take plenty of selah's myself. I'm committing to being addictive in my use of comma's in the next week. I am going to exhale, walk on the beach, hike in the woods, stay under the covers a few more moments, get a massage, tie my shoes slowly. Sip my coffee with ample rest and fill my calendar with lots of white space and margin. I want to see white, I want to feel rest and rejuvenation. I want to be intentional about my comma's this week…so that I can be fully alive, present to ring in the New Year.

Permission granted; fill your calendar with plenty of selah's and comma's this week! 

Rest. Pause. Reflect. Re-energize 

It matters.

Pam