The interruption that made me a better idea shepherd
Shaping ideas isn’t always about focus—it’s also about the playful pauses that form us.
Yesterday I was stretched out on the bed, winding down, YouTube video humming along.
My daughter walks in with this mischievous little smile. She peeks over, taps the pause button on my phone, sets it on the table, and says, “Let’s wrestle.”
Now, “wrestle” in her dictionary translates to tickle me until I can’t breathe from laughing.
For the next five minutes, that’s exactly what we did.
Her plan replaced my plan. And honestly? It was the better plan.
As shepherds of ideas, we often think shaping is about staying disciplined, pushing through, following the trail we set for ourselves.
But sometimes shaping comes in a different form: an interruption that’s actually an invitation.
Life has this way of pausing our videos and handing us something more valuable than whatever we thought we needed to consume.
In that moment, no idea in my notes was more important than the relationship right in front of me. And I think those little interruptions are good for our souls.
They remind us that play shapes us too.
It keeps us light.
It makes us better shepherds of the ideas entrusted to us.
Shepherd’s Pause
Where is life trying to “pause your video” right now? Instead of rushing back to your plan, could you see it as an invitation to play, to connect, or to rest?
💡 P.S. Moments like these remind me why I wrote my Thinking with AI guide. It’s not about letting the robot run your day—it’s about learning how to pause, play, and partner with your own thoughts so you don’t miss what matters most. If you want to see how I use AI to shape ideas without losing my soul in the process, you can grab the guide here: Thinking with AI: Don’t Let the Robot Steal Your Brain