Letting Go With Structure
From SolVida’s Newsletter - Jan. 10th, 2025.
In late November as I returned from a trip into the depths of the Grand Canyon to visit the Colorado River, I found myself turning over a question like a worry-stone in a well-loved coat pocket: How can I have structure and flow?
I love both flow and structure but sometimes struggle to find the way they can fit together in my life. I adore being in a flow state but don’t I need structure to get things done? Yet, if I’m structured all the time then how do I find flow?
I’ve turned to the wisdom of rivers to find my answers.
I’ve turned to the wisdom of rivers to find my answers.
Over the past few years as I’ve spent more time on and near rivers, I’ve come to deeply appreciate their wisdom on this topic. Rivers need the structure of their banks in order to have their beautiful and free flow. Without banks rivers become floodplains, with water running in many directions and spreading out over deltas. The flow slows, pooling and settling. It’s the structure (and gravity!) that provides natural guidance for the water’s forward motion and yet, simultaneously, it’s the flow of the water that creates the structure. The Grand Canyon is such a striking example of how the movement of water over time can create banks of great depth and strength. Riverbanks and river water have a harmonious relationship in this way, supporting each other endlessly toward their distant goal of the free ocean.
This harmony is not static.
The riverbanks that provide the necessary structure for a river to flow freely are ever-changing and evolving. Depending on many factors - the intensity of the flow, recent rainstorms, time of year, animal habitat, etc - the banks of the river adjust and change. At times the water may flow over the banks and, at times, the entire course of a river can change dramatically. River banks change; their flexibility is what makes them powerfully supportive.
Like a river, I need banks to guide the flow of my life forward. My vivacious soul does not like the feeling of stagnation that can come without flow, which is why I’ve come to embrace structure. The structures in my life are my riverbanks: they guide me forward on the path I’ve chosen yet they are constantly changing so as to meet me with what I need in this moment and the next.
My structures are unique to me in each moment, just as each person’s structures are unique to them and the current landscape of their life. Some of us need wider riverbanks while others of us need tight ones. Just as a river does, we each get to engage with that ever-changing harmony of structure and flow in our lives.
Here’s me and my partner navigating structure and flow in the Grand Canyon!
As we step into a new year, I invite you to ponder the new questions I’m holding and which are inspired by the rivers’ wisdom:
What structures are currently supporting you to flow?
Are there dams or blockages that are holding you back?
What parts of your riverbanks are no longer serving you?
How might the natural flow of your life shift the structures to support you more?
I recognize that this entire musing is quite metaphorical, so I made it more concrete with a drawing!
Soon I hope to share more about what a harmonious relationship between structure and flow actually looks like in daily life as well as ponder the question that has floated to the surface now: What is the difference between structure and control?
I appreciate you taking the time to read and wonder with me. If you are so inclined, please drop me a line to share your thoughts on flow and structure! I truly love hearing from you.
With abundant joy,
Zoe
