It's not like anyone's forcing you into a hermitage for a year and a day! A few minutes of liminal time, after one thing and before starting another, to clear your mind and... recalibrate, to inspect thoughts and feelings that crop up and send them on their way, instead of burying them.

[Her ears flick. This is stuff he's read in those self-help books, if he's gotten around to flipping through them. A lot of it is so touchy-feely, though--she prefers a more practical approach.]