Structure without rigidity? Yes.
Each month I begin my Love Letter transmissions with an “alchemical attunement”, aimed to inspire a shift in perspective. May we see all our challenges as GOLD, so that we can expand into our highest potential on the wings of gratitude for all that we’ve been through thus far.
I've been thinking a lot about structure.
It started showing up as a theme for me during the month of August. Everywhere. In my theta session. In my acupuncture session. In my birthday I-Ching reading.
The gist: too much structure and you become rigid. This is no fun. It doesn't support healthy creative flow or innovation. Not enough structure and you're floating, rudderless, in a vast aimless sea.
This month's alchemy lesson invites you to transmute your resistance for structure as you simultaneously loosen your rigid grasping. Somewhere in the confluence is freedom.
Anytime a theme shows up repeatedly, I consider it evidence of synchronicity. And according to my own Spirit-Led Life Blueprint, synchronicity bubbles forth whenever the forces of Divine Will and Willingness are active in our lives.
Here are three of my personal learnings on structure:
1. The past 5+ years I've tried to fit my business into business models suggested to me by other people, based on what's worked for them. Suffice to say, they haven't lasted. After buying our house last year, I energetically collapsed from burnout, and essentially dropped 90% of the structure in my business. It was incredibly liberating... for a while. And then it wasn't. Then it was incredibly disorienting. I am now restructuring my business, and it feels fucking good. Like cracking your knuckles. Ahhhh.
2. Richard Rudd suggests the following ratio: 33% structure, 66% fluidity. In your relationship, business, morning practice, wherever. I like it.
3. I'm healing my chronic back pain through daily QiGong. Not massage or painkillers. Alignment. Slow, purposeful, meditative movements. Tucking my chin. Dropping my sacrum. Allowing the structure of my spine to remember itself, elongate, and align. I remember my teacher Melissa Tiers last fall said that of all the complaints and skeptical remarks she gets in her sessions with clients, the most common one is, "but it can't be that easy!"
4. I'm struggling with my podcast. I love the format: a wisdom transmission followed by a song to integrate the topic. But it holds me back from getting more episodes out there, because the curation and production of a song for each and every episode is too much. What started as a wonderful structure that gave me a playground now feels like a cage. I want to be able to record a podcast with my earbuds while I'm on a walk, and publish it instantly. Change is coming.
So where do you land on the structure spectrum?
Is your life overly structured? Or somewhat lacking?
Do you feel perfectly contained and directed? Or are you floating in a sea of WTF should I be doing right now?
Or perhaps you've hit the Goldilocks sweet spot, where it feels juuuuuust right?
Somehow I doubt it.
✨ Alchemical Inquiry: journal prompts
If you could give a percentage for structure (clear, defined containers) versus fluidity (a quality of loose spontaneity), what would your percentages be?
If this feels hard to estimate, try separating your personal and professional lives, giving each a different ratio.
Once you have your guess: how does it currently feel?
How do you want it to change?
Name ONE small baby action step in the direction you'd like to shift.
✨Alchemical Action
Take that baby step you just named above. Try it out. Consider it an experiment. And like a true alchemist, notice what results from your experiment.
Let's sum it up:
Autumn is a perfect time to make decisions... especially ones you've been putting off, avoiding or pretending don't need to be made.
Belly up. Remember that using the sacred sword of discernment is necessary in pruning the limbs, which keeps the ecosystem thriving. Don't be afraid to add some structure if it's lacking, or kick it to the curb where it's stifling.
And hey, hit reply and let me know how this lands, okay? Because I know there's a human reading this, and I know I'm not the only one rumbling with structure.
To the structure that serves,
PS. Do you listen to my podcast, The Sage & The Song?
I'd love to know what your favorite part about the podcast is. Do you tune in mostly for the Sage portion? Do you love and always stay for the song at the end?
Inquiring minds want to know. Hit reply and do me a favor, bc I have some decisions to make.
PPS. Have a project you want to complete before 2024 ends, but unsure about your ability to actually FINISH?
I'm about to announce a fall project completion lab! I'm so excited. Want me to update you as soon as it's solidified? Reply with "finally finish it" and you'll be the first to know!
PPPS. Music: I listened to this playlist this morning while painting, this one has been my go-to dinner preparation music, I listened to this song on repeat the other day for about 3 hours, and oooooh I can't wait to start listening to my favorite Samhain playlist soon 🎃