Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board

It starts as a childhood game, played out at slumber parties. You know the one- a group of friends chant, “Light as a feather, stiff as a board,” trying to lift someone with just a few fingers. The trick is all in the coordination—a delicate balance of shared effort and belief. It felt magical—until it didn’t. Until you realized how heavy a person actually is and how hard it is to keep pretending otherwise. That’s kind of what work feels like, isn’t it?

At first, everyone’s in sync, especially when something personal comes up. Your team rallies. Your boss says all the right things—“We’ve got you.” “Family comes first.” “Take the time you need.” And for a brief, shimmering moment, you feel lighter. Supported. Almost weightless.

But then deadlines loom. Emails pile up. Someone else’s project hits a snag, and suddenly your absence—or even just your lower capacity—isn’t so easy to carry anymore. You’re not light as a feather. You’re a fully grown adult with deliverables and responsibilities, and no amount of positive intent can suspend the laws of workplace gravity.

The truth is, it’s not even anyone’s fault. Your boss probably meant it when they said they supported you, and your colleagues likely had every intention of picking up the slack. But here’s the dark reality—there’s no real flexibility built into how most businesses operate. Not the kind that’s needed to handle life’s unpredictable messiness.

Our systems just aren’t designed for it. They’re rigid, stiff as boards, and no amount of chanting about culture or values can change the fact that most workplaces run on margins too thin to absorb the weight of actual human needs. Instead, we all end up pretending. We pretend we’re fine. We pretend the load isn’t too heavy. We pretend that if we just keep chanting long enough, we’ll defy gravity and lift what was never designed to be light in the first place.

And we try. We really do. We bring pieces of our authentic selves to work—the parent, the caregiver, the friend navigating a tough time—only to feel that slow creep of guilt when the shine wears off and the cracks start to show. We feel it when we log back in early to catch up, when we let “just this once” turn into “always,” and when we quietly wonder if we should’ve kept our personal struggles a little more…personal.

But what’s the alternative? To stiffen up completely? To act like life doesn’t happen and hope no one notices when it does? It’s exhausting either way—too light, and you risk floating off into irrelevance; too stiff, and you might just snap under the pressure.

So we hover somewhere in between, balancing authenticity with performance, honesty with obligation. And maybe that’s the best we can do for now. Maybe the magic isn’t in pretending we can float above it all but in recognizing when someone’s struggling to stay grounded and being willing to grab a corner and help lift—even if just for a little while.

Because the real secret to that old sleepover trick? It never actually worked on magic. It worked because everyone showed up and gave what they could, even if their arms started shaking and someone had to put the person back down. And maybe—just maybe—that’s enough.

Christine Robinson is a Resource Management expert, Strategic Advisor, award-winning speaker, best selling author, and the mother/stepmother of six. Recognized as one of the top leaders in the Philadelphia Business Journal's 40 Under 40 List for her performance and community contributions, Christine is passionate about supporting women and underserved families. She holds an MS in Human Resource Management from Fordham University, a BS in Sociology from Bowling Green University, and is a certified Resource Management Professional.

The former Managing Director and Head of Resource Management at a top accounting and consulting firm, Christine has steered national teams, instituted firmwide functions, and established international joint ventures. As the visionary and Founder of Resource Management In The Wild, her mission is to empower professionals and organizations to successfully navigate resource allocation.

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