I was given the opportunity to write blog posts in exchange for a scholarship so I could continue attending classes at my favorite place while going through a hard time. I’ll be honest, this seems like a daunting task. Another thing on my list of seemingly never ending things. But in all reality, I’m constantly thinking about all the wonderful things I could say about Aerial Dance. I’m really grateful to have been offered this.
I have been attending Aerial Dance off and on for the last two years. During this time I have discovered many things about my body, my mind, and my spirit. I’ve found a sense of identity, a sense of strength, and I discovered some of my weaknesses as well. In this next few blogs I will talk about those things, but first I want to talk about the sisterhood that is Aerial Dance. I’m a person that absolutely hates to look bad at things. The idea of embarrassing myself in front of other people has kept me from trying A LOT of things. My introduction to the studio began with a bachelorette party, one where I got so frustrated I couldn’t do any of the things. I actually had to make jokes to hold back tears, and for some reason that didn’t stop me from wanting to come back. Even though I couldn’t do any of the things, I felt confident I would be able to in time. I didn’t feel embarrassment for being “bad” at all the things, and while I felt discouraged in the moment I also felt encouraged to try again. That’s been the theme since I started, try, try, try again, as cliche as that may sound.
I’m not sure if it was the excitement of learning something new, seeing the muscles beginning to take shape throughout my body, hearing the echos of cheering throughout the building and knowing that one day, those cheers could be for me, or the fact that each woman who started in the class I started in also had no clue what they were doing that encouraged my determination and drive, or a combination of it all, but I’m so glad I walked through those doors. I’m so glad I allowed myself and continue to allow myself to be bad and become better at things. Starting this process has set the stage for the rest of my life and I’m really grateful I was in the right place at the right time and took a chance. I can’t believe how fast 2 years have flown by. I’m shocked at the things my body can do. It’s wild to see how my mind adjusts to the process at becoming stronger and better. I’m healing parts of myself when I see that I can do hard things, healing parts of myself when I realize my way of thinking goes to “this is getting easier” rather than “I’m getting stronger”. It’s not just my body that has gotten stronger, but my mind too.