Maintenance

The practice nobody glamorizes and everybody needs.

Y'all, I love playing in the dirt. Nature doesn't maintain herself in big, grand gestures - she's a 'show-up-every-damn-day' kind of gal.

If you’re digging in the dirt yourself, put on those headphones & listen along:

A dear friend imparted some invaluable wisdom to me years ago. He was describing a trip he’d taken and a hotel where he’d stayed - an historic property that, regardless of its age, had been so impeccably cared for that it became a highlight of his journey. It was a living reminder of a belief he holds deeply; one I’ve since adopted as my own: all life is maintenance.

As a word geek who loves a good etymological rabbit hole, I find the origins of the word particularly useful for what I want to offer you this month. “Maintenance,” from the early 15th century: the action of upholding or keeping in good order. Doesn’t get much simpler than that.

We live in a moment that’s become very good at pointing fingers at why everything is going to hell in a handbasket (a phrase my mother loved, and one that as a child gave me serious doubts about the structural integrity of handbaskets). We’re also, slowly, waking up to the realization that we don’t need to keep ordering mediocre things to stuff into already-bursting closets. Maybe our ancestors were onto something when they bought, made, or bartered for goods of real quality - and then took care of them.

I think about my father’s shoes. To this day I can still smell the polish and picture the little kit he kept to shine and maintain the handful of well-made pairs he owned. He didn’t need a closet full of options. Meanwhile, I’ve lost more time and money than I care to admit chasing cheap, trendy pairs that fell apart before they even fell out of style. I wish I had it all back.

So how does any of this connect to the work we do together - to vitality, to caring for your body, mind, and spirit? Simply this: maintenance is daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. It’s not a trend. It’s a practice.

As for classes this month, If you come to my classes because you find me entertaining and leave in a better mood than when you arrived - huzzah. That is the maintenance of your spirit, and a good mood is contagious. Go change someone’s day.

If you come because you like being asked to do hard things - because you know that since leaving 7th grade algebra class, almost no one has asked you to sit with difficulty and uncertainty - then you’re practicing the maintenance of commitment. You’re choosing to be in spaces that challenge and affirm you in equal measure.

If you come because you think I have it all together and that being my student will rub off on you - I have bad news: I don't. My life is a daily lesson in maintenance, an active and ongoing pursuit of upholding and keeping myself in good order.

Whatever brings you through the door, you've already done the most important thing - you showed up. Now let's talk about what we're actually maintaining here.

Our bodies are not unlike trends: they will have seasons where they are absolutely it. But if we’ve only ever treated them as something to dress up cheaply in the moment, how will they hold up for the long run? The unsexy truth is that taking care of something that matters requires intention. It requires showing up even when nothing shiny is on offer.

So, here’s my ask for March: stop treating your commitment to vibrant, vital living as something that happens to you. Begin consciously building a pattern of maintenance - one that outlasts any hype, carries you forward with strength and joy, and keeps you, in the best possible sense of the phrase, in good order.

Morning person or afternoon slow and steady, I've got a class for you. Head over to FORM Yoga for my weekly public classes - or if you're craving private one-on-one sessions or a small-group hang with your favorite humans, contact me here and let's make it happen.

‘til next time, love y’all!