Know any people who are whimsical free spirits yet they never seem to follow through, they don’t finish what they start?
Let’s talk about the balance of freedom and form.
This is one of my favorite Nia principles.
Freedom and form are like yin and yang, like inhale and exhale, like sound and silence. Each gives birth to the other. Each depends on the other to reveal its true nature.
Most of us have a lot of one or the other. We can thrive when we access and blend the two!
Freedom is the feminine free and flowing, expansive and creative.
Form is the masculine, the rules, strong and set, exact and concrete.
"When I grow up I am not even going to have beds in my house, they won't be allowed!"I remember declaring to my mother, along with, "I am going to have candy for breakfast and chips for dinner everyday!"
Thankfully my parents held Form, and I took care of the Freedom as most children do.
Who parents us when we're grown? Who protects my health and well being with firm structures now? Who creates and upholds boundaries?
I do. And you must do the same for yourself.
Debbie Rosas says “we balance the feminine with the masculine, the precise with liquid fluidity and the powerful with the yielding.”
It’s only in the last 5 years have I begun to really intuit, play with and exercise the balance.
Let me explain: To me Form is a structure that supports me, it parents me. For instance my schedule or daily routines, I love to sleep in, my Form gets me up early, keeps my yoga practice alive, keeps me taking my vitamins, and drinking more water. Keeps me checking emails, returning phone calls, and working diligently at my computer, when I’d otherwise be procrastinating like nobody’s business!
My form gives me a steady rhythm to my days, weeks, and months. It’s like a good strong bass line in a song.
My Freedom keeps me dancing, journaling, collaging, going for hikes, watching Office reruns with my teenage son. My freedom lets me peruse the Goodwill, and let my house get a little messy! Let’s me create new workshops and dance moves.
When balanced my freedom has boundaries, but it can thrive within Form. My form stays strong but pliable , not rigid.
Some of us go to the other extreme and strangle our creativity, snuff out our playfulness with too much Form. These people are convinced Freedom is dangerous, it can not be trusted, it's a waste of time. In general I find these folks not too much fun to be around. (Although they generally have very nice cars I wouldn't mind owning.)
Form is like a loom, and freedom is colorful threads. One is useless without the other. If you are creating the rich tapestry of an intentional life you must incorporate both! For any intention to not only survive, but to thrive, both are essential!
Ask yourself how your balance of Freedom and Form is supporting you. Check in, what do you find, a lot of tangled threads, or too much bare empty loom? What kind of tapestry are you weaving?
