Lately, I’ve been thinking about those stretches when life feels slightly off-kilter — when projects stall, timing slips, and the familiar systems that once held everything together stop working.
It’s that strange, suspended feeling, like Mercury is permanently in retrograde.
This summer was one of those windows.
It left me wondering what’s really happening during these disruptive seasons — and what they might be trying to teach us.
Somewhere in that search, I came across a line that stopped me:
“When life feels chaotic, it’s often because you’re missing the systems for the you that is coming.”
It landed.
Maybe the messiness wasn’t a sign that things were falling apart.
Maybe it was that the old systems no longer fit, and the new ones were still taking shape.
In a conversation about this, a friend offered a phrase that reframed everything: divine time.
She described it as the space where we stop trying to push things forward and instead allow what’s next to emerge — to transform.
For her, it looks like finally writing the book that has wanted to be written for years and releasing the pressure to search for a new job.
For me, divine time is about setting a new cadence. A more discerning one.
In my professional life, it’s looked like creating time for weekly writing and reflection — including this very piece — and launching our Heartshot: Designing for Impact and Innovation Deck.
Fresh off the press, the deck is rooted in the idea that a heartshot is a moonshot with a lot of love — bold, creative, and grounded in community — and that, with the right tools, we can each design a better world, one card at a time.
It’s part of a broader shift toward sharing what we’ve built in new, more spacious ways — teaching, writing, and creating opportunities for others to design for change.
As these shifts have unfolded, I can feel new neural pathways taking shape. A quiet rewiring.
What began as reflection is now showing up in how I move through the world. I’m drawn to “work” less in the traditional sense and more in the ways that fill me.
Creating spaces, moments, and connection.
That’s looked like starting a new project — building a carriage house for my mother-in-law, a new home and a space for her and my son to share their own divine time.
Want to seed divine time?
Here are four reflections to help you create a space for alignment and emergence:
What feels divine right now?
Notice the sparks of synchronicity, curiosity and joy.
How can I share what I’ve built — literally or figuratively?
Consider what wants to be shared or released into the world.
Where can I make space for quiet?
To reflect, take stock, and invite what’s next.
What systems nurture this emergent moment?
Daily writing, walking, meditation, dreaming with friends…
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