Before I get started, I just want to share that I’m on vacation for an entire week! Obviously, I really needed it because my mood improved more and more on Friday as it got closer to quitting time. I’m looking forward to this week of sleeping in, spending time with my puppies, writing, and dancing!
Which brings me to today’s topic:
For the last few weeks, I’ve been going to these Sunday social dances. They are hosted by a friend of Teacher’s, owner/creator of freeballroomlessons.com.
I know I said I would expand on the wonderful effects that ballroom can have on you today. But if you’ll pardon the delay, I attended my studio’s team match yesterday and was inspired in a different direction. I promise I’ll get back to ballroom effects tomorrow.
Yesterday wasn’t my first team match; I’ve attended at least four. The big difference yesterday was I wasn’t dancing, only watching.
Today’s post isn’t specifically about ballroom dancing. I’ll be honest; I had a cold/stress-induced mental block. Didn’t I just write about self care and not letting the stress get to me as much on Day 10? I have a list of ideas to write about for the entire month, but I just couldn’t get moving on any of them.
But then the thought that I needed to go back and reread Day 10’s post led me to a topic for today.
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I put Looney Tunes on this morning as background while I worked on today’s post. Sometimes I really miss the old classic Saturday morning cartoons. Looney Tunes were the best! Yes, incredibly violent, but also brilliant! What led me to Looney Tunes was noting the number of bruises I’m currently sporting on my legs: one on my left knee, one on my right shin, one on my left ankle, and two on my right ankle. I’m like a slapstick character, get it?
A dear friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time came to the studio tonight to watch me during my lesson. I met her through ballroom and for awhile, our ballroom journeys paralleled. We danced with the same teacher and even went to our first two competitions together. But things change and paths diverge, so I don’t see her as often anymore.
It’s funny, I made a list of topics for this 31-day challenge, but have yet to actually follow that list. One post just leads me to another post. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that things aren’t going as planned. When do they ever?
Last year, I started a series on my first blog, The Uphill Factor, titled “Express Yourself!” Teacher was starting to bring up the need for more emotional expression from me while I was dancing, and naturally, I wrote about my struggles:
Express Yourself!
Express Yourself! Part 2 – Tango Curses
Express Yourself! Part 3 – Butt and Boobs
Express Yourself! Part 4: No, Really, Express Yourself!
After some exciting progress with my writing, from publishing my first eBook to getting another article published on Dance Advantage, I took a break on Monday night to watch Week 3 of Dancing with the Stars. It seemed like it was a challenging week for the various celebrities as they started to realize that the show was actually a competition and they actually needed to learn and dance ballroom if they were going to stay. And ballroom dancing is hard!
All of the demons started coming out, and I heard so many things that sounded so familiar! “I’ve been abandoned before, I’m scared, I’m not sexy, I can’t do this, why can’t I get this right?!” People were having trouble connecting with their pro partners and feeling uncomfortable with the close physical contact. Someone even brought up the blurry line that is the pro-am relationship (teacher or friend?). I couldn’t help myself; I had to write about it.
First, to all of the remaining Dancing with the Stars contestants, I would like to say welcome!
Happy October! It’s Day 1 of the 31 Day Writing Challenge! For the next 31 days, I’ve committed to posting something every day about ballroom dance. Since my ballroom dance journey is the focus of this blog, my topic choice is obvious. My challenge to myself is to write something new every day. I don’t want to just rehash older posts about ballroom basics. I respect and appreciate my longer-term readers too much to produce nothing but reruns for a month. But I don’t want newer readers to feel lost, like they came into the middle of a movie. So my plan is to revisit some old topics with a new or different perspective, as well as break out some new ones. I will also include links to my previous posts to help any new readers get up to speed. For today, I thought I would just introduce myself to any new readers out there.
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The blog posts from the Write31Days Challenge have been compiled into my first Dance Diaries book, Learning Ballroom Dance. I’ve left some of the links active so you can get a preview of the information available in the book. Click here for more information on the Dance Diaries series!
As I slowly find my way down a new path on my ballroom journey, I’ve decided to put more effort into my journey as a writer. I learned about this 31 day writing challenge this morning and signed up! It’s simple enough – pick up a topic and write about it every day for the month of October.
Naturally, my chosen topic is ballroom dance!
Those that have been on this journey with me for awhile know that I typically post every 2 to 3 days. So I’ll have to kick it up a notch to make myself write EVERY day! I plan on updating this post with links to each day’s post, so you don’t have to scroll through my blog page to find ones you miss. Just come back here, or click on the category 31 Days.
And let me know in the comments if any other bloggers out there decide to take on the challenge too!
I was prepared when the phone rang this time. Teacher asked how I was and I said “I’m not sure…because you’re calling…”
Teacher was calling to inform me of the surgery necessary to repair the fractures in his wrist. So much for a clean break.
Surgery meant a longer recovery time. So for the second time, a goal has been crossed out and the future shifted back into obscurity.
There will be no Best of the Best at Ohio Star Ball for this dancer.
I initially wrote this post right after Teacher called me that second time. But I wanted to hold off on sharing it until after my first post-surgery lesson with him. Because the title is 100% true – life isn’t fair. But it is still worth pursuing.
In the middle of processing the second dream lost, I couldn’t articulate why anyone should bother if it all could be taken away without cause. So I waited until I had some time to process and then reconnected with Teacher and started working toward new plans for my ballroom future. I thought getting back into the swing of things would help inspire the words I would need to encourage and motivate you despite the random smackdowns life would give you.
It didn’t.
I still feel like life is just totally unfair and I’m still struggling to keep myself motivated.
But screw it, here is what I wrote anyway.
The Girl with the Tree Tattoo 