Blown Open
Last Week in Denmark
In Denmark, the wind doesn’t arrive politely. It doesn’t whisper its intentions or build slowly like a respectful crescendo. It just comes. One minute you’re enjoying the early sun with a cup of tea, and the next, your garden chairs are halfway across the lawn. A door slams. A pot topples. And you’re suddenly in motion – responding, recalibrating, adjusting your body and your plans.
That’s exactly what last week felt like.
Nothing catastrophic happened. But the week had that scattered quality – plans changing, meetings moved, the familiar rhythm replaced by interruption. On paper, everything was fine. But internally, I noticed the subtle tension: a need to regain control, to anchor the week before it drifted further off course. I tried to power through with structure – lists, reschedules, a tighter calendar. But something in me resisted. It wasn’t productivity I needed. It was presence.
There’s a growing body of research on the concept of interoceptive awareness – our ability to sense internal signals like heart rate, breath, and emotional shifts. According to a 2020 study published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences, interoception plays a crucial role in self-regulation, resilience, and even decision-making under uncertainty. In simpler terms: when we tune into our bodies, we make better choices.
But modern work culture rarely encourages that kind of pause. Instead, we’re taught to override it – chase clarity through control, not curiosity.
The wind last week forced a different rhythm.
Without all the usual plans holding shape, I noticed things I’d normally rush past. How the hallway light shifted as the sky changed. How a thought I’d been ignoring returned with gentle clarity. I remembered something I often tell others but sometimes forget to practice myself: clarity doesn’t always come from pushing forward – it often comes from loosening your grip.
There’s a psychological term for what this kind of shift allows: cognitive flexibility. It’s the ability to adapt our thinking in response to change. Not just to tolerate change, but to work with it. High cognitive flexibility is strongly linked to mental well-being, creativity, and problem-solving – especially in unpredictable environments. One study even found that leaders with high cognitive flexibility were significantly more effective at guiding teams through uncertainty (Martin & Rubin, 1995; Canas et al., 2003).
And yet, flexibility requires space. It requires listening to the wind.
By the end of the week, I hadn’t ticked every box. But I’d reconnected with something more essential: the part of me that notices. The part that adapts. The part that leads not with urgency, but with intention.
A few gentle takeaways
Not just from the wind – but from what it stirred.
- If your rhythm keeps breaking, it might not be failure – it might be feedback. Pay attention to what’s trying to change.
- Clarity doesn’t always look like action. Sometimes it looks like stillness, or even surrender.
- Your body often knows before your mind catches up. Use it as a compass, not just a container.
- Letting go isn’t giving up. It’s making space for something wiser to emerge.
This week’s reflection
Where might you be gripping too hard – trying to force a rhythm that no longer fits?
And what might open if you let the wind speak first?
