I Am Both a Masterpiece and a Work in Progress
Sharing how I practice being gentler with myself in my dance journey
Recently, I took an in-person Contemporary Dance class taught by two lovely young ladies. I couldn’t get the timing and steps of the second half of that routine and felt quite bummed about it. Even when two other dancers complimented me on my dancing right after the class, I thought they were being polite.
Toward the end of the class, we split into small groups, and each group performed the routine and had it recorded on video. I loved receiving and watching these precious class dance videos. The dance class might be over, but the videos became beautiful documentation of my dance journey.
I shared the class dance video on my personal Facebook page (I can’t share it publicly here because there were other dancers in my video and I can’t crop them out) and received many lovely compliments from my friends. Here are some of these beautiful comments:
- “I so enjoy watching your dance journey.”
- “I can feel the emotion you put into your dancing, Bingz! You move with passion and grace!”
- “So beautiful and so expressive too! I just love seeing you do your contemporary moves.”
- You did great with that routine! And your timing wasn’t that bad in the second part. Don’t beat yourself up! I think you look great!
This time, I watched my video repeatedly through the lens of appreciation. I did pretty well in the first half of that routine, and I remember feeling the song and allowing the music and lyrics to move my body. It was a divine experience.
Thank you, Universe!
That night, my youngest son, who recently turned five, threw a tantrum. He was coloring a Spiderman picture and colored part of it wrongly. His older brother walked in and commented, “Oh, you colored his face well! Not bad!” It was a genuine compliment, as he didn’t even know his younger brother was upset over the imperfections of the coloring.
Wisdom flowed through me. I patiently explained to my youngest son how it’s normal to feel frustrated when he could see how the coloring didn’t turn out exactly the way he pictured it. He’s getting better at coloring every day, so it’s perfectly natural for him to want to keep improving. Yet, it’s important to notice and celebrate our wins, such as what his brother appreciated about his coloring.
We can acknowledge our wins and our yearning to keep improving. The Universe is helping me see this through encouraging my five-year-old son.
Thank you, Universe! I got the lesson (:
Appreciating the bigger picture of my dance journey
The next morning, I read every appreciative comment on my video post and took them gently into my heart space with gratitude. My movement qualities have improved greatly because I took some time each week to practice the basics taught in a 10-day online introductory STEEZY program on Contemporary Dance. I have also been dancing consistently since the start of last year when my word of the year was Dance.
All my life, I tend to get so distracted by what others want from me that I seldom work on clarifying what I truly want. I only knew Dance was and still is important to my mind, body, and soul, so I returned to that passion, intending to keep exploring and clarifying my desire. Contemporary Dance speaks to me the most, as it helps me hold space for myself in a grounded and uplifting way. I’m so grateful to make visible progress in this genre finally.
Seeing the bigger picture of my dance journey now, it’s easier for me to embrace both the beauty and imperfections of my dances.
I am both a masterpiece and a work in progress. This was a phrase I first heard from my Nope Coach, Suzanne Culberg. I love how she encourages us to celebrate our progress and still feel motivated to keep growing new positive micro habits!
I hope you've enjoyed my mini reflection on how I practice being gentler with myself. This is one of my responses to my publication’s — Gentleness Ambassadors’ #PracticingGentleness month in November 2022. I’d love to invite you to check out our growing list of stories from various writers, and perhaps you might want to contribute one or more stories to this list, too!
Take a look at Dr. Gabriella Korosi’s story on practicing Gentleness through gentle movements at the start of each day:
Here’s our growing list of articles for #PracticingGentleness (: