I am a Dancer

For a long time I had a hard time calling myself a dancer. I found dance later in life, never having been athletic or super coordinated. It made me feel vulnerable to hope that I could learn and improve. When movements took a long time to master, I thought there was something wrong with me, with my ability to dance. For a little while, by nurturing these feelings, I robbed myself of the joy and expression that drew me to dance in the first place. Even after I had been dancing for years, I still had a fear that calling myself a dancer would mean I'd gotten too big for my britches. If I am completely honest, I still stumble through the words sometimes, even now.

But here's the difference. I have decided to accept as truth, that by staying small in my mind, by not claiming that space, I was doing myself a huge disservice. I realized I was the only person standing in my own way. I have every right to dance, of course, I think there we can agree - so why do I have a hard time confidently saying "I am a Dancer". I think somewhere along the way I had told myself that if I wasn't' among the best at it, if I wasn't a professional, then I was not able to be that thing. That any attempt to do so would look pathetic. I am sad for that version of me, because those feelings hurt.

I have healed a little bit by changing the stories I tell myself, but it's still a challenge! You know what helps me? I ask myself, "Am I being as open and positive with myself as I would be for a friend, or even an acquaintance for that matter!?

It is easy for me to say this to you and I believe it 1000%:

Each of you reading this, just as you are, is a dancer! I don't believe you have to have been in ballet, or danced as a kid to claim your space as an adult! You don't have to be any particular gender expression, skin color, age, size! YOU are ALLOWED to be a DANCER and feel GREAT about that. Sorry for yelling:)

I think every person reading this has something to offer the world through dance - to make it a more beautiful place. Some people like to put their expression out into the world through performance. Others never perform a day in their life, but they enjoy dance and allow it to nurture them. Then they can turn around and nurture others in whatever way they choose. So what if you don't make money?! I never get paid for being a mom ('cept in kisses), but I certainly am one! "Dance is medicine", I heard a wise woman once say, and I've never met a person it wasn't good for.

This January our theme is : I am a Dancer.

Instead of telling ourselves a resolution about changing ourselves in 2021, what if we embraced and grew confidence in who we already are? You are a creative human who enjoys expressing yourself through movement! You are a unique human being with an expression to give to the world around you! You are a dancer! And me too! I am a Dancer!

Claim that space Home Slice<3

XOXO,

JoJo and Tessa TrueHeart too!