Solid Ground: Dancing Through the Storm

Lauren Nixon-Matney • May 4, 2025

Solid Ground: Dancing Through the Storm

PNAU: Solid Ground

Pixel art scene of Lauren and Jaxon sitting together in a grassy field under a calm, starry sky, representing steadiness, love and resilience, part of the Searching for Stars Galaxy.

Motherhood hits like a tidal wave. It crashes over you, leaving you breathless, navigating a new world of love, exhaustion, and uncharted emotions. Some days, the tide is gentle, rocking you in its rhythm. Other days, it pulls hard, threatening to drag you under. But in my living room, with my son nestled in his baby carrier, the beat of Solid Ground became one of my anchors.


“There’s too much worth living for, too much worth living for, baby.

I’ll show you.”


So I did.


I danced. I swayed. I let the music shake off the weight of exhaustion, filling the space with movement, laughter, and love. My son, wrapped against me, always responded with instant calm his tiny body absorbing the rhythm, the melody, the joy. Even now, ten years later, he still sings along, his voice a little louder, his feet moving to the same beat that once held us both steady in those early days.


“Looks like I got my feet back on solid ground. My head’s been stuck in a storm so long.”


Postpartum can feel like a storm: isolating, overwhelming, a swirl of emotions that’s hard to explain. But this song pulled me through it. Reminded me of who I was. Gave me back my light.


And through it all, I fell deeper in love not just with my son, but with my husband. Parenthood doesn’t just add to love; it transforms it, deepens it, makes it something even more powerful. Seeing him as a father, watching the life we created together it made me love him in ways I never expected.


When the first notes of Solid Ground hit, they ignite something deep inside me as my body almost involuntarily begins to move and I don’t just hear a song. I hear the laughter of my baby boy, I feel the steady presence of my husband, the echo of our love dancing through the years. A time capsule of memories… and I remember: we built something beautiful, powerful, meaningful, something worth living for and in that we found our solid ground.


RESUME THE RHYTHM:

DRIFT THROUGH A CONSTELLATION OF MEMORY

Searching For Stars

By Lauren Nixon-Matney April 12, 2026
Film: Young Guns 1 & 2 Bon Jovi : Blaze of Glory
By Lauren Nixon-Matney April 12, 2026
*A letter of light for Rosey Blair* Okay this is going to sound oddly specific but stay with me... You remind me of a very particular kind of feeling. The kind that lives somewhere between fall air, soft lighting, and a childhood movie that most people forgot existed, but the ones who remember it? Oh we remember. The 1987 Chipmunk Adventure! Which I did not expect to ever connect to another adult human about, and yet here I am. There’s just something about that movie the movement, the music, the chaos, the fun, the outfits, the chipettes... like being in motion and color and sound at the same time. And watching you feels like that again in a weirdly beautiful , full circle way. Not in a “this is aesthetic content” way more like a “this is a person who actually lives inside her life” way. And ironically that’s what makes your aesthetic top notch in my opinion. Cozy but not fake. Honest and raw but not too harsh. Funny without trying to perform funny. (which is rarer than people think) There’s a warmth in how you show up that feels familiar in a way I can’t fully explain but definitely recognize. I came across you scrolling my phone, postpartum, trying to find my footing again. At the time I was in that weird in between space, relearning my body, trying to feel like myself inside something that had completely changed... yet again. And you showed up in your space on instagram in a way that felt real. Authentic. Original. Not “perfect body positivity” not curated confidence just a woman existing in her body dressing it, living in it, laughing in it and making that feel normal again. Healthy. Beautiful. Fun! Something I really grew to respect about you was that you didn’t stay frozen in one version of that message or yourself just to make people comfortable. You shifted. And I really admire the way you talk about Changing your mind. Leaving spaces that don’t feel right anymore. Figuring out that loving yourself isn’t one fixed version it evolves. That kind of honesty is quietly powerful and extremely profound. You evolved and changed your mind out loud. And people always have something to say when a woman does that... but you stayed steady anyway. That kind of self trust? That’s the part people don’t talk about enough. That’s what bravery looks like in real time! You don’t just create content, you create an honest space for people to re-meet themselves in whatever version they’re currently in. It’s the kind of magic that doesn’t need to be announced it just exists, and people feel it when they orbit around it. You didn’t just show up on my feed, you showed up in a moment where I needed to feel like myself again. Like a song you forgot you loved until it comes back on and suddenly you remember everything. And somehow through outfits, honesty, humor, book reviews and a lot of zany ingenuity... you saved parts of my girlhood that likely make me a better mother. Thanks so much for being you! Thanks for being real. Thanks for taking up space, your energy’s reach is more powerful than you ever might have imagined. P.S... I have to add this because it lives rent free in my brain! That Taylor Swift workout series you did?!? absolutely unhinged in the best way It was funny and chaotic and somehow still motivating… I'm not deep in Taylor Swift knowledge territory, but it made me pause and go “okay wait... there’s something here.” The way she owns her work, reclaims it, redraws the line that I own me energy it felt incredibly aligned with what you were doing too. With love, light and gratitude, Stay Weird! -Lauren “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” -Louisa May Alcott
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