Foundation—of a house, your health, a relationship, or a way of being—is foundational for a reason. It’s what everything else is built on. It’s the soil the rest of life grows in. When the base is solid, you don’t have to work so hard just to keep things from falling apart.
For decades, I carried a freedom-oriented, loose-in-life identity. Self-employment reinforced that. I resisted j.o.b.s. to protect freedoms I believed could only exist outside of them. Flexibility, intuition, and movement are still central to who I am, and always will be.
What I didn’t see for a long time was how ungrounded that freedom had become. Freedom without support is quietly exhausting. I think I lived with a low-grade worry about money, clients, and housing for years without fully naming it.
This past year—my first in City employment—taught me something I didn’t expect: structure doesn’t take from me the way I thought it would. It grounds me. It steadies me. It fills my cup.
Structure doesn’t have to mean rigid, and routine doesn’t have to mean dull. When they’re in balance, they create a container that lets the nervous system settle, creativity come back online, and generosity flow without burning out.
I know this is true in bodies, too. A body that feels supported has more capacity. When the foundation is there, nothing has to work quite so hard to compensate. Healing doesn’t have to fight gravity—it can soften and do its work.
As this job has gotten easier for me, I’m finding small pockets of space again—moments to reflect, to write, and to connect with you here. I like sharing what I’m learning in real time, alongside living it.
Strong roots = free, swaying branches. This lesson is everywhere! Weeble wobbles. Enough money = less worrying about money. Step-dad Tom spoke of flexible “stances” versus rigid “stands” when I was just a puppy. Then my favorite yoga teacher Angela Farmer embodied it for me. And led me to feel it inside myself. And now, again I meet this in my day to day life.
My goal is to continue building a life that feels safe enough to rest in, and flexible enough to grow in. Foundational integrity, a rock solid base. Because when the base is solid, you don’t just hold more, you get to enjoy more.
Life just keeps teaching me and teaching me. Thank you, structure. Thank you, life. Thank you, you.
Warmly,
Mary