Last Dance

I used to dance so wild and free,
Not a care in the world who was watching me.
But they laid out the steps—black prints on the floor,
And told me, that’s not how we dance anymore.

So I learned all their steps, buried the real me,
While watching the wind in the branches, wishing to be free.
Clinging to promises of a future they swore,
“All this can be yours—just dance a little more.”

But the harder I danced, the less joy I found,
All the things they said mattered—just noise dressed as sound.
Left feeling hollow, my truth a distant shore,
The puppet they made me doesn’t want to dance anymore.

In the Key of You

Little pieces of me, reflected in you

Once shattered, now aligned anew

You’re more beautiful than you’ll ever know

Not just surface, sown in your soul

You are the music, I wrote with the stars

Composed the notes, but you shaped the bars

Your symphony’s rhythm healed my every scar

Creating a playlist that is uniquely ours

You Did Something to Me

You did something to me

You were the one person that should have sheltered me

Set the precedence for all those that came later

Yet you paraded me like a trophy in public

Only to discard me when alone

You ostracized me for the very race that you created for me

And made me work for a love that should have been freely given

You perpetuated the wounds unhealed within you

Giving me a guilt no child should have to carry

And a shackle I struggle to unbind as an adult

Do you even care what you’ve done?

You did something to me

You were my best friend, yet you left me with her

You moved on with your life and no matter how you tried to include me

From that point on, I was an outsider

Even when I knew you were fighting battles beyond us, I tried to be everything you dreamed I would become

But you left me to the hands of another that mistreated me

Though the first neglected me, the next held me under a microscope

Only to pick me apart for faults that didn’t exist

Yet another to abandon me, though you kept coming back

My love stayed strong, you were a hero in my eyes

The start of a cycle I’ve allowed too many to repeat

Struggling to make you proud of me, to see me

To choose me like you did them

Now that you are here, I have to wonder at what cost

Do you see what you've done?

You did something to me

I was weary of you front the start

Maybe this is where I began to snuff my instincts

But I tried, because everyone said it is what I needed to do

The people that should have been there, weren’t

You presented a hope I didn’t even know I needed

Did you even see me as a child through your jealousy?

I can’t imagine treating anyone the way you did me

Much less a child

You tried to rally people against me, I didn’t even understand why

All I did was exist, yet you hated me, tried to divide me

Now that I am older, I realize that the ugliness lived inside you

I was a threat because I didn’t carry the same darkness you did

I was easy to love, easy to like, something you can’t claim

Though now a darkness lives in me from your cruelty

You taught me what I never wanted to be

How I never wanted to treat someone

What’s done is done

You did something to me

Things I don’t want to discuss

I felt disgusting, unwanted, out of control

I overcompensated thinking it would bring my power back

That it was all I had to offer

You degraded me in a way that I would degrade myself in years to follow

Things that never should have been done

You did something to me

I thought you were my friend

But only while you stood to gain from our alliance

Through your misgivings, I never threw stones

But met you with a tenderness I thought would be reciprocated

Yet when the walls crumbled around me

You laughed, just like the ones thirsting for my chaos

Destroying another thread in the web of connection

Just done

You did something to me

 I was a butterfly flying through a field, you pinned my wings

Separated me from all the things that made me beautiful

Beat me mentally, emotionally and physically

Made me afraid to be myself, to even breathe

 And then blamed me for it all

All because I represented something you knew you could never be

Free

So, you gilded me with control

Until you gave me the very thing that allowed me to fight back

But your destruction stops with me

You are done

You did something to me

I thought all the traumas of my past had made me wise

But I had never met a manipulator as cunning as you

The devil has a silver tongue too, you’d be in good company

A desire to be loved, for family, kept me too long

Denied me of the senses I had regained after losing myself so completely

Just a new version of a familiar monster

And what a monster you turned out to be

I only wish it ended with me

What have you done?

You did something to me

You used me to rebuild yourself

I thought you would choose me

But you left, just like everyone before you promised they wouldn’t

Well, that’s done

I did something to me

I abandoned myself like everyone else

Thinking my sacrifice would show my worth

I listened to them and lost myself

Something must be wrong with me, I need to change to be better

I let them hurt me, I thought love meant you stayed

That is had to be earned through endurance

If I could prove my worth, they would see me

Until I just wanted to be done

But then I did something for me

I saw myself, despite them

All their attempts to crush me under the weight of their own turmoil

I stood, I collected my pieces, I rebuilt

Every time

What I was taught to view as selfish, was me trying to love myself

The guilt they conjured, was my compassion wielded as a weapon against me

I didn’t need saving from them, just myself

The knight I longed to protect me, was a warrior within me

Snuffed by what I allowed

My fortress reinforced by boundaries I didn’t know love needed

Monsters don’t need forgiveness for being monsters

But I did, for crawling in the closet, dangling my foot off the bed

No matter what I endured, I never let it change my soul

I knew I didn’t belong, despite trying to lift them to meet me

A beauty lived in me they would never know

For a fleeting moment in time, they experienced it through me

Or perhaps they saw me discard generations of perpetuation

Going places their roots never allowed them

 Perhaps I am the real villain

To live in a cave your entire life, only to be offered the sun

And squander the opportunity

They live in darkness only to project light

Secretly consuming all in their wake

I am the sun

And though pieces of their darkness will always live in me

I will never be undone

Welcome (Back) to The Building Life

Originally dreamed up in 2020, reborn now—with spirit, grace, and a much bigger toolbox.

Hey friend,

Thank you for showing up—and welcome (or welcome back) to The Building Life.

This blog and podcast have lived in my heart for years. The idea first sparked in 2020, in the middle of a wildly uncertain time, when I was craving more purpose, clarity, and connection. Like many of you, I was navigating the chaos of life, trying to make sense of it all while raising my boys, holding down work, and still remembering who I was underneath it all.

I’ve tried to launch this space more than once, but life has a way of… well, life-ing. Being a single mom means time is never your own. Add in work, relationships, house projects, unexpected turns, and just trying to stay sane—and it’s easy to see how some dreams get pushed to the back burner.

But here's the truth: this dream never really left. It just needed to grow with me.

What’s Changing (and What’s Not)

The Building Life is still about the same things that inspired me from the beginning:

• Navigating real-life struggles with honesty and humor

• Creating a meaningful life through intention, creativity, and chaos

• Finding healing through home, heart, and hustle

But now, we’re coming back with fresh eyes, deeper perspective, and a whole lot more stories to tell.

We’ll revisit some early content and conversations—this time with new tools, new wisdom, and maybe a little more wine. And we’ll be diving into some beautiful new territory too: healing, creativity, self-love, spirituality, DIY life hacks, and what it really means to rebuild from the inside out.

About the Podcast

Yes, the podcast is coming too! Think kitchen-table conversations about:

• Being a mom while trying not to lose yourself

• Learning to set boundaries and build again after heartbreak

• Talking to experts, friends, and people who’ve been through it

• The messy, magical work of building a life that feels like yours

Who This Is For

This space is for the dreamers, the doers, the tired mamas, the recovering people-pleasers, the creatives, the ones healing while hustling, and anyone who’s ever said:

"I want more, but I’m exhausted."

Same.

Let’s talk about it. Let’s build some sh*t. Let’s figure it out together.

Want to Be Part of It?

I’d love to hear from you—what do you want to talk about? What are you building in your life right now?

Drop a comment, subscribe to the newsletter, or follow along on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

We’re just getting started.

With love and a hammer,

Lauren
The Building Life