There comes a moment in life when something inside you whispers, “This can’t be everything… right?”
For me, that moment didn’t happen somewhere big or dramatic. It didn’t happen on a mountain, during a vacation, or in an important life event. It happened in the most ordinary place – in my kitchen, while I was washing dishes and listening to an audiobook.
And somehow… that tiny moment changed my whole life.
I was listening to Ikigai, and the author was talking about how Japanese people live such long, peaceful lives because they follow their purpose. Their joy. Their thing. The one thing that makes them feel alive. And right there, with my hands inside warm soapy water, I suddenly felt this sting in my chest, like someone pulled back a curtain.
I realized something that I think many of us feel but don’t admit:
Most of us aren’t living for ourselves. We are living to fit. To impress. To not be judged.
We’re trying to enter spaces that were never built for us.
Trying to keep up with people who don’t even know what they want.
Trying to live by rules we never agreed to.
It feels like life is a fast, busy tram rushing past us, and we’re trying to reach it by walking. It’s impossible. And it’s exhausting.
That day, standing in that little moment with my audiobook playing in the background, I asked myself something I had never asked before:
“Who am I when I stop trying to impress the world?”
And the answer didn’t come immediately. It didn’t fall from the sky.
But I felt something shifting inside me, a quiet opening. A small doorway. And that’s when slowing down became the beginning of everything.
The Moment I Started Paying Attention
A few months later, we went to New York. I took photos and videos with my phone, just like I always do. I didn’t think too much about it. But when I posted them, my husband and my friend both said the same thing:
“Photography and videography are your thing.”
And I don’t know why, but this time it hit differently.
This time I paused. This time I listened.
It was like something inside me said, “Yes. This is yours.”
That’s when everything connected- the Ikigai moment, the need to slow down, the quiet voice inside me that I had been ignoring for years.
- Photography felt like home.
- Cinematography felt like breathing.
- Seeing the world in frames felt like what my soul had been trying to tell me my entire life.
I looked at my husband and said, “I need a camera.” Not just because I wanted better photos… but because I finally found something that didn’t drain me, didn’t bore me, didn’t disappear the moment I stopped doing it.
This was mine. And it still is.
What You Notice When Life Isn’t Rushing Past You
Slowing down makes life look different. Feel different. Taste different.
I started to notice tiny things… things I used to run past:
The way sunlight falls on my kitchen counter at 9am.
The silence when I first open my eyes in the morning.
The smell of the air after it rains.
The small laugh I make when I hear a song I forgot about.
The warm chaos of family voices in the background.
The comfort of writing thoughts in my favorite notebook.
All the things people think are “nothing”… those are the things I live for now.
Life is not the expensive things. It’s not the trends. It’s not the shopping. It’s not the comparison game.
Life is the tiny moments that slowly become the biggest part of your story.
The tea you drink.
The vinyls you play.
The sunset you catch.
The little thoughts that come to you when you let yourself breathe.
The messy kitchen.
The soft mornings.
The people you love.
The inner peace you build.
Life is all the little things that make your soul pause.
How Slowing Down Changed My Inner World
When I stopped rushing and finally started paying attention, something in my mind softened.
I no longer felt pressure to finish my day fast. I didn’t force myself to “be okay” just to avoid my feelings. I didn’t run ahead of myself like I used to.
- I let my thoughts speak.
- I let my emotions breathe.
- I let myself move one small step at a time.
And the biggest thing that quieted inside me was the feeling of being behind.
Because I realized something powerful: If I had continued living fast, I would have missed myself. And finding yourself again feels like the softest miracle.
Being lost is not bad.
Sometimes being lost is what makes being found so beautiful.
Photography Slowed Me Down Even More
People sometimes say: “Forget the camera, enjoy the moment.”
But what they don’t know is that the camera helps me enjoy the moment. While others see the big picture, I see the details they walk past.
I see light.
I see shadows.
I see patterns.
I see emotions in people’s faces.
I see beauty in things that look ordinary to others.
Photography makes the world slower. Wider. Softer. More meaningful.
It pulls me into the present moment like nothing else.
What Slowing Down Taught Me About Myself
It taught me to respect my boundaries. To say no when I want to say no without feeling guilty. To understand people but also protect my energy. To let my creativity lead me instead of fear.
It taught me that slowing down is actually how you regulate your nervous system.
- How you return to yourself.
- How you feel safe again.
- It made me feel more like me.
- More grounded.
- More real.
And the biggest emotion I feel now is gratitude. Gratitude for the pace. Gratitude for the clarity. Gratitude for the small things I used to miss.
Paying Attention Is a Form of Self-Love
Paying attention means feeling your life fully.
Feeling things without rushing.
Noticing what’s happening inside you.
Listening to your intuition.
Being present.
It’s gentle.
It’s slow.
And it’s healing.
When you slow down, life doesn’t get smaller. It actually becomes bigger, because you finally see it.
If You’re Reading This, I Want You To Feel This Too
I hope this post makes you feel understood. I hope you feel seen. I hope you feel safe inside your own story. I hope you remember that your life is allowed to be soft. You are allowed to breathe. You are allowed to pause.
And you are allowed to find yourself, even if it happens in the most unexpected moment, like washing dishes while listening to an audiobook.
Life feels different when you slow down.
And once you feel that softness… you never want to go back.
Ikigai is a Japanese word that basically means “the thing that makes life feel worth living.”
It’s the feeling you get when you’re doing something that makes you feel alive, present, excited, and connected to yourself.
It’s not about big success or being perfect.
It’s not about money or what people expect from you.
Ikigai is that one thing you naturally enjoy…
the thing you can do for hours and never get bored…
the thing that feels like home inside your soul.
For some people it’s cooking.
For some it’s helping others.
For some it’s creating.
For some it’s building something with their hands.
And for me – it became photography and creative storytelling.
Ikigai reminds us that life feels softer and more meaningful when we follow what feels right to our heart.
It’s about living with intention, slowing down, and paying attention to what actually brings us joy.
