I help people to become grounded in their spiritual beliefs and practices, grow their self-awareness, and overcome difficult and uncomfortable situations and experiences.
Tap shoes, mirrors, and a hip-hop beat
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I have something to tell you, and it's making me a little nervous even to type it: I’m going to a tap dance class. I wanted to do something that would get me out of the house, get me moving, and maybe make a friend or two along the way. I wanted a genuine, honest-to-goodness new thing, not a version of something I already know how to do. I had my first class this week. I was both excited and nervous as it drew near. I left early to make sure I could find the studio and get in on time. I stood in a room full of mirrors and other dancers, trying to get my feet to match the instructor's, trying to get the correct foot to shuffle and the other to just stand there like a normal foot. I have work to do. A lot of work, honestly. But something in the room told me it's going to be great. And if you're the betting type, put your money on me for Most Improved Dancer by the end of the season! :) Oh, did I mention that's it's not just any tap dance class, but a hip-hop tap dance class? It's so much fun! And more importantly, precision isn't prioritized the same as it is in a traditional tap class. Our teacher talked about feeling the music and moving our bodies, and though performing the correct steps is important, there's a freedom in the choreography that isn't in other types of dance. I think most of what keeps us on the sidelines of new things isn't always a fear of failing. It's fear of not doing it perfectly, or well. We wait for the right time, the year, the relationship, the whatever-it-is to feel safe enough to attempt something with precision, and in the meantime we don't move at all. But there's a way of trying something new that doesn't hinge on getting it perfect immediately, but on showing up in the room and engaging the experience with joy. I keep thinking about that group of dancers, some a half-step behind the instructor, or standing with hands on hips figuring out how to make our feet do that (me), and none of us worried about it. Something bigger than a dance class lives in that room — the freedom to be exactly as unfinished as you actually are, and move to the music anyway. My wish for you this week, Reader, is that you find something to try where nobody's grading you on precision, that you find some room to show up in exactly as unfinished as you are, and move anyway. Let go of the compulsion to do it perfectly, and just enjoy the moment. That's the fiLLLed life.
P.O. Box 414, Illiopolis, IL 62539 |
Hi! I'm Melissa.
I help people to become grounded in their spiritual beliefs and practices, grow their self-awareness, and overcome difficult and uncomfortable situations and experiences.
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