The Architecture of Aliveness

Before, rhythm was elusive.

Something people who were luckier or more talented than I had.

I liked, nay, I loved music—and listened constantly, but you’d never catch me humming or rap-tap-tapping along to whatever song caught my fancy.

And singing, even just for the love of the song?

My lips might as well have been sewn shut.

———

I used to think “rhythm” exclusively pertained to music.

I never, ever considered how rhythm shows in the life-giving dance of inhale, exhale; in the cadence, pacing, and delivery of a story, written or spoken; your steps as you walk or run; your sleep-wake cycles and the bodily systems they help regulate; the sprint and stillness of creative work; or the seasons, tides, and phases of the moon.

———

After my eyes opened…

My lips unzipped…

And my limbs unfroze…

I realized the startling, beautiful, delicious truth…

Rhythm is the architecture of life’s aliveness.

———

Imagine a world where your breath has no consistency; where each step you take comes at a different pace than the one before; where the moon doesn’t move through stable, predictable phases; where a steady sleep-wake cycle doesn’t exist. 

Life would be brittle. 

A moon without phases would confuse the tides. 

A sun that forgot to rise would leave crops confused. 

A body without consistent rest would decay.

———

In rhythm, chaos finds form.

For rhythm isn’t fixed. 

Rhythm is alive. Rhythm exists in flow, in flux.

Rhythm inhales, exhales… contracts, expands… rests, surges.

Rhythm governs energy far more than time does, despite what we were taught. For clocks don’t measure energy, but rhythm does. If you’re in the right rhythm, you can do in two hours what might otherwise take eight. 

———

Recognizing that rhythm is everywhere around us, layered deep inside everything we do, was a profound realization that’s made life infinitely easier, more fun, and playful.

Life is a delightful symphony of rhythms: of breath, heart, thought, emotion, desire, others’ presence, tastes, preferences, weather patterns, and seasonal shifts. 

Coherence isn’t born from isolating a single beat or tempo, but from learning how these different rhythms relate and dance together, then moving with them.

Living a life you love doesn’t come from keeping perfect time, but knowing when to rest, when to rise, and when to ride the wave that emerges beneath you.

With love from the forest,

~ Alexander