One of the things I have learned over the duration of my aerial journey is that the people in my life that truly love and support me also support my aerial journey, and it inspires others – but the latter is for a different time. Those that see the work I put into aerial, but also the fulfillment and benefit I get from aerial, are my biggest supporters. And the thing that helped this process the most, was talking about aerial. I talked about the soreness, I talked about the strength I was gaining, I talked about the tricks and moves I was able to accomplish, I talked about the improvements to my overall wellbeing. I talked about all of it.
My dad is one of the prime examples of this. He judged dance my entire life, often referring to the idea that it was not a sport. He is one of the main reasons I had never thought dancing was something I would do or even should do. I was doing aerial for a few months before I told my parents. It was a slow breaking in process. The first time I told them I was going to perform, my dad said he was going to show up at the show in short shorts and a crop top that said he was my dad. He would frequently make joking statements that posed pole in a sexual way. Looking back, I really think it was his way of trying to deal with the unknown and uncomfortable stigma associated with pole dancing.
Through continuously talking about how great aerial was for me and how much I enjoyed it, showing them all of my bruises, talking about the cool tricks I was doing, paired with all of my friends and family seeing that I was healthier, physically, mentally, emotionally, as a whole, I was a healthier being, it started to not only be accepted but shared with others. My dad also began sending me clips he’d see of others doing aerial dance and he paid attention to the strength it took people to do them. The only thing I had changed in my life was I became a pole dancer and then an aerialist. And my loved ones watched it happen.
And then my dad came to the annual show the first year I performed (and to all of my other performances since) and his opinion changed. When he saw not only me, but all of the other women, of all different ages and sizes doing all of the different things, he understood. He was able to understand the strength and dedication that was going toward the sport. When he saw me up on a stage doing something I would never have dreamed of with confidence I did not previously know I had, enjoying myself, he was proud. After the show, he started talking to others frequently about “how I do that stuff”.
The moral of the story is, the more I talk about and show what aerial did for me the more it normalized it and the more support I got from those that loved me. Be proud of your journey and the strength you are building, others will notice and be proud of you too.