Ask the Girl Episode 9 – Choosing a Competition

Happy Tango Tuesday everyone! I’m excited to present another episode of Ask the Girl. This week’s episode is in response to a reader who takes lessons through an Arthur Murray studio. He was wondering how other ballroom circles organized events like competitions and how you would find out about and choose which competitions to attend. And yes, I recognize the amusing timing as this topic comes up right after my article on setting non-competition goals when you can’t afford to compete was published. But that’s the whole point! The readers control the content!

So let’s forget I’m ballroom poor for a minute and pretend I need to decide which competition I’m attending next!
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Non-Competition Dance Goals

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

I just had to get that out first. This week has been a LONG one! But I made it to Friday and I have fun plans for this weekend (and a surprise!).

I teamed up with Dancesport Place again and wrote an article for anyone in a similar financial boat as me and finding themselves unable to compete.

Click on the image to check it out!

non-comp-dance-goals

Debt vs. The Pursuit of Happiness

After writing the Hermit Weekend post, I recalled a post I had written for the Uphill Factor about two years ago.  Eventually, that site will transform or disappear entirely, so I’ve been spending some time revisiting old posts. The particular one I recalled yesterday was written because I had been involved in a debate about debt and pursuing things that make you happy.

The debate was how much money, more specifically how much debt, is acceptable in the pursuit of a passion?  At what point do you stop being admirable for following your dreams against any and all odds and start being just foolish and irresponsible?

Two years later, my views haven’t changed much despite my constant questioning of myself and my need to take the occasional hermit weekend.

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Hermit Weekend

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.

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A Review of CalOpen – Realigning with “Reality”

It’s been six days since I danced at the California Open. The days following a competition can be challenging. What goes up must come down, as they say! The big emotions of an event like a ballroom competition (excitement, anxiety, joy, etc.) take a lot of energy, so I can feel drained and even depressed after the external stimuli are gone and the big emotions fade. I call it post-comp blues. I’ve dealt with this emotional rollercoaster after every competition, as well as some lesser events. Sometimes the ride is full of insane ups and downs; other times it is just a little bumpy.

So what about this time? I’ll call it a bumpy road.

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