Forming a Community and Making Friends
Finding community as an adult might be the hardest part about being an adult. When you’re younger, your community is decided by your school, sports, or other activities your parents take you to. Theater, bowling leagues, even things like ninja gyms, all exist to you only in relation to the adults who can drive you to those ongoing events. And making friends is a bit easier when you have that activity in common. But as you grow up and leave your parents, you have to take the initiative to create those opportunities. They don’t just fall in your lap like they used to. Other than friends at work, most people you interact with you have to choose to see and hang out with. And time is precious! As working adults, we tend to have less time and energy than we did as carefree children. That’s where aerial comes in. Taking classes provides a great opportunity to meet women from all around Green Bay and Appleton that you might not otherwise see in your “normal life.” Learning together to do something as intricate and amazing as aerial provides easy conversation topics for those of us a little more shy (including me!). It’s simple to remark on the difficulty of a skill or encourage another person when they do well. Then you start to ask questions and you learn these women all have insanely different jobs than you, or that they have cute pets at home and you immediately ask to see pictures. And as time goes by, you go to classes again and again, and you start to see the same people in your classes. You get to know them little by little, finding other things in common like books or sports teams you both like. Then there’s the cool other events Aerial Dance puts on, like the movie nights or a book club. These social events are part of building a community, and are just as important as going to classes themselves. Suddenly, you realize that you’ve formed relationships with these women who you would have never known if not for aerial. There’s a community around you full of encouraging and supportive people who have a wide range of knowledge and can help in a crisis. And you keep going to classes so you can get better and stronger at your chosen aerial apparatuses! And when you get there, you can be confident that you are building the foundations for your community.
From Aerial Dance to Flying Trapeze!
When I started my journey with Aerial Dance it was ironically for something completely unconventional. I had decided to sign up for a flying trapeze and trick riding camp on horseback in Minnesota and had only a few weeks to get physically fit enough to be able to hold myself up on the flying trapeze at 34 feet in the air and to stand on the back of two moving horses. I had signed up for such a physically demanding camp because I had always dreamed of being able to do it but I never thought I would actually see myself being able to succeed in it. I never thought I would be able to be strong enough to even stand up on the horses, much less to fly through the air and do tricks while I’m doing it. I had been absolutely freaking out as to how I was going to gain all this strength in such a small amount of time. I had heard that Aerial Dance was a really good way to build strength and to build it fast. I had decided to take the risk and try pushing myself in classes for those weeks prior to my camp to at least somewhat build up my strength so that I would be able to make the most of the camp I was attending, and hopefully be able to get something out of it that I did not think I would be able to. Come time for the camp I had actually gotten enough strength from my Aerial Dance journey that I was able to stand up on the moving horses at both a walk and at a trot. I was able to successfully do the splits on flying trapeze in the air, as well as practice tricks with a catcher! I was on top of the world to be able to finally do something I had always dreamed of doing and I never once thought I would be physically capable of it. I cannot thank the Aerial Dance team enough for pushing me to go towards my goals and helping me take the right steps to get my physical strength to where I needed it to be to be able to do this! This was truly a once in a lifetime experience for me, and I owe it all to you guys for making sure I was able to finally do something I had always dreamed of!
For Now, Be Here
This morning my Timehop popped up a meme I had saved from last year and it said “You will get there. Until then, be here. This moment matters.” And my brain instantly went to aerial. Wow. Does that statement ever scream to where I, and I’m sure many aerialists are on our aerial journey. You will get there. You will get the move you are trying for. You will remember the sequence. You will be a little stretchier. You will be splittier…or you will learn to fake it. But be where you are. Accept what you are capable of. Accept that what you are capable of is pure and utter amazingness. The courage it takes to sign up for your very first class. The strength it takes to do your first stand. Your first flip into bat cave. Your first foot lock. Your first climb to the top of the pole after you have been in advanced for a few terms. Your first Jordan. Your first anything. And your second. And your 100th. It is all truly amazing. Everytime you walk through the doors; amazing. Everytime you decide to take a day of rest; amazing. Be in those moments. The moment matters. A common theme I heard and continue to hear from other members is to record yourself. And I couldn’t agree more. Record yourself now. I have never been disappointed that I recorded a move or a flow. I have also never been disappointed by recording a free dance. In fact, there have been times I was pleasantly surprised by what I was capable of during a free dance. I was able to see where I was in the moment and appreciate it. There are also days I look back and am proud of the me that decided to sign up for that first class. And then for the membership. I’m amazed at the journey I have done so far, in aerial and life. I think of past me, hoping I would be where I am now. It helps me realize I’m not where I want to be, but I’m also not where I was. I’m here. I’m in this moment. I’m doing amazing things, here, in this moment. And the things I’m doing today matter. Without the things I’m doing today, I won’t get there. I can’t get to where I want, I can’t actually get anywhere, unless I make this moment matter. I’m not back to aerial inverting yet, but I’m inverting. And just being upside down matters. Just being in the studio each day matters. Be in this moment. Embrace this moment. Record this moment. This moment matters.
