Every so often I need a hermit weekend. That is, a weekend when I don’t leave the apartment except to walk the dogs. I need the quiet time to recharge and to gather and organize my thoughts. Between my day job, my writing, my dancing, my financial juggling and Life’s latest challenge, I have a lot on my mind! Sometimes it gets to be too much and that’s when I take a hermit weekend.
Category: The Student Perspective
Repost: Imposter Syndrome
I relate to this concept as a writer but also as a dancer. The higher I advance, the harder it gets, and oh my gosh, what if they figure out I’m just a bronze dancer trying to fake her way through silver steps?!
I wish I could catch that level up screen!
An Open Letter to My Self-Doubt (Rated R For Excessive Use of F-Bombs)
I originally wrote this letter in 2014 for my old website, the Uphill Factor. I like to reread it every once in awhile to remind myself. I think it’s a nice follow-up to my On Not Giving Up post.
Dear Self-Doubt,
On Not Giving Up
I swear, every time I start to feel secure in my plans, Life shouts “plot twist!” and I’m back to square one. But that’s what Life does, isn’t it?
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Ballroom Withdrawal – A Financially Sound State
You know that feeling you get when you feel like your budget is in good shape and even after fitting in dance, you still have some wiggle room, but then you have to buy a new car battery and instead of wiggle room, you’re back to wearing a financial corset?
Maybe it’s just me.
Countdown to CalOpen – 2 Days: Article Repost – Overcoming Dance Fears
How appropriate that I should come across this article just before my “comeback” competition!
Check it out:
Quotes To Help You Overcome Your Dance Fears And Live A Creative Life
Tips for Dealing with the Anxious Beast
As just a person with experience, and not an expert or professional in the mental health field, here is a breakdown of how I handled my anxiety attacks described in yesterday’s post. Maybe someone else will find these tactics useful.
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There’s Being Friendly, and Then There’s Being Friends
WARNING: You may not like what I have to say.
My topic today is potentially awkward and maybe even controversial. But it needs to be addressed, for all those just getting started on their pro-am ballroom journeys.
The Business Side of Ballroom
As students of ballroom dance, we are faced with countless challenges: the dance itself, the goals for progressing the dance, the funding of the dance, the personal growth triggered by the dance, the emotional bonds formed with dance teachers, etc., etc. After reading the blogs of some other ballroom students, I realized there is another challenge that should be addressed: the fact that our dancing dreams don’t always align with our teacher’s career path.
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Like a Warm Spring Breeze on a Cold Winter’s Day
I got my new video of the silver foxtrot routine. And what’s more, I actually feel like I am starting to get the hang of it!
I’m always so grateful for the lessons where things just go well.
But I’ll be frank with you. I think I had something to do with it.