When Life Feels Like a Blur: How to Reconnect with What Truly Matters

By Jennifer Burchill

Have you been wondering where the days (and weeks and months) are going because they are blending together as you move through your days so fast? Like you’re scrambling from one place or meeting, unable to catch your breath? Maybe you’re living on autopilot—going through the motions, emotionally flat, checking boxes without presence. Or perhaps social media, which once felt connective, now leaves you feeling even more socially disconnected. 

If any of that resonates, I get it. I’ve felt it too. And for me, that feeling is always a signal that it’s time for a purposeful pause. To reflect. To realign. To return to what matters.

A Simple Pause, a Powerful Connection

This morning I took such a pause, but quite unintentionally.. I caught up on the score, was watching the game, chit-chatting with family and friend spectators, while making a mental list of the groceries I wanted to pick up on my way home (always multitasking). 

 I had raced to my nephew’s baseball game, arriving later than intended. I was catching up on the score, chatting with family, and mentally planning my grocery run, multitasking as usual. My body was there, but my mind was rushing ahead.

Then I sat down on the grass. 

It was only when I stopped moving that I noticed the grass was filled with an abundance of clover, the whole field white blossoms bobbing in the breeze. Instinctively, I picked one, then another and started to string them together. A warm feeling washed over me as I had a flashback of stringing necklaces with my childhood friend, Stacy, sitting in the sports fields of the college where our fathers were professors. It was something we often did, something I hadn’t thought of for years. I asked my 4-year old niece if she had ever made a clover necklace. When she shook her head, I showed her how I was tying them and made one just her size and placed it over her head. She held it up, checking it out with an amused grin. In that small quiet moment, my childhood connected with hers. Reflection opened the door to presence.

When Reflection Leads to Reconnection

Surprisingly, when I returned home, I opened Instagram and saw a post from Stacy—the same friend I’d been remembering. I hadn’t seen her post for a while. Normally I might’ve just “liked” it and scrolled on. But this time, I sent her a message, responding to something specific in her story, another thing we had in common.

That unintentional pause at the baseball field suddenly seemed intentional, felt purposeful. And one small moment of reflection became a reconnection.

How to Reflect (When You Don’t Have Time)

If life feels like a blur lately—if you’re longing to feel more connected, present, and grounded—here are two small reflection practices that take just one minute:

🌀 1. Notice a Moment of Connection

Think of one moment today when you felt connected- to someone, to yourself, to nature or to a place. Write it down or simply acknowledge it. These micro-moments rebuild awareness and deepen presence.

💬 2. Reach Out

Think of someone who’s been on your mind. What would you say if you had just 60 seconds? Say it now—text, call, or write. Let reflection become reconnection.

Don’t Miss It

As the ever-wise (and slightly wise-ass) Ferris Bueller said:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

You don’t have to overhaul your life, just start by noticing. Connection begins with a pause.

And from that pause comes reflection about what truly matters to you, and you begin to return to a life that feels like yours again.