Lessons Learned: Atlanta

Atlanta, Georgia Skyline1 – The life I am accustomed to can change at any point.  Change although sometimes painful is not always bad.

2 – Love is possible in any circumstances.  I learned to forgive quicker and love unconditionally.

3 – I don’t have to make excuses for myself or people I love.  I learned to let go of people and situations sooner.  You cannot receive the new if you holding on to the old.

4 – Loving yourself is priceless.  Speaking up and being honest with yourself allows you to be honest with other people.

5 – My dreams are there for a reason, I will follow whatever I love even if it makes no sense (or cents).

6 – I can rebound from anything.  Everything seems harder when you are in the midst of it.  You can let it defeat you or learn to be thankful for the experience (eventually).

7 – I am more powerful than I thought I was. Power comes in more than one form; love is power; forgiveness is power; self-awareness is power; feminine energy is powerful.

8 – Nobody’s perfect and  judgment does not help.  In the past I’ve judged my own actions more than anyone else could.  I learned to stop judging myself.

9 – I am capable of asking for what I need and deserve in relationships.  I am able to walk (or crawl) away when it no longer fits.  Compromising what I value or believe creates an internal struggle.

10 – I can be kind and love unconditionally anyone I’ve perceived to have hurt me in the past.  It may require dealing with them on different terms but its possible.

11 – I am a spiritual being having a human experience. Every experience is meant to take me to or from a specific destination.

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1: Leg Warmers and Ballet Shoes

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While I patiently wait for what’s next to present itself I’ve decided to dance.  I been dancing since this time last year and it’s been amazing.  It’s mainly been burlesque style dance.  But in the few month I was lead to a dance academy that teaches more traditional dance such as ballet, contemporary, jazz and tap.  In the process I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find a love for ballet.  I’ve always told people I wanted to dance.  It was more something I said in passing and didn’t give any serious thought to.  After a raised eyebrow I would clarify by saying ‘more like performance dance or a back up dancer’.  I remember when I was younger I would record music videos and when no one was around I would practice all the routines.  If anyone remembers In Living Color, I really wanted to be a fly girl.  The fly girls danced at the beginning of the show to the latest music.  I’d be entranced just watching them.  Oddly enough I never thought to pursue.  I’d take a random class or two maybe in belly dance, hip hop but none of them ever held my attention for long. But ballet feels different.

The first class I went to about three months ago I was both excited and intimidated.  I felt surrounded by students who’d taken ballet their whole lives.  Some of them a lot younger than me, clearly although it’s an adult class thirteen and up is considered adult.  I watched these amazing young people stretch and do full splits during the warm up while I in the back barely able to get into a half split position.  What I didn’t know was the class I thought was for beginners was intermediate level and two hours long.  A huge oversight on my part.  So for 45 minutes I felt proud of myself for keeping up.  Well apparently that was just the warm up and they took a break.  Meanwhile, I was out of breath and wondering why they were taking a break for an hour-long class.  That’s when it became clear.

After a two-minute break the real dance started.  The instructor would spit out a combination and they knew exactly what he was saying. Probably good to point out ballet instructions are in French another aspect I did not anticipate along with the pace.  Meanwhile, I was struggling in the back trying to keep up with the person in front of me.  Then they started breaking up in groups, your group does the routine while the rest of the class watches.  At some point I ended up just standing against the wall.  I clearly knew my limitation and didn’t want to pass out on my first day.  I spent the next hour watching in awe as they leaped and glided along the floor with such grace.  All I could do was smile the whole time.  I felt inspired, these days inspiration leads to change for me.  I knew I was in the right place.  Maybe not the right class but in the right space around the right pep.  I wanted to learn how to captivate an audience and bring a smile to someone’s face. Since then I’ve been attending classes regularly and decided to buy my first pair of ballet shoes.  I feel honored to slide on my leg warmers and slippers.  I cannot imagine what happens next.

I am

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I am wherever love needs me to be
I am whatever love needs me to wear
I am whenever love needs me to hear
I am however love needs me to bare
I go wherever love needs me to be
I am sight when you need me to see
I am love

Inspired by forgiveness….

Choice are the seeds you plant for the life you want

Quote

Men go abroad to wonder at the height of mountains,
at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers,
at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars;
and they pass by themselves with out wondering.
-Saint Augustine