D is for Dancing

I've just come from one of my ballroom dance lessons. As usual, I learned more than just dance steps and technique.

I've always loved to dance. Put some music on and if I wasn't out on the dance floor, I was be-bopping in my chair. The dancing I've always done before the ballroom dance lessons was I guess what you would term "club" dancing. Just getting out there and moving to the music. No steps (unless it was a line dance), just movement. Interestingly, dancing is where I've always felt the least self conscious. As a consequence, I've often been told I'm a really good dancer.

I became interested in ballroom dancing when I was in middle school, perhaps earlier. I would watch ballroom dance competitions on PBS more often than not hosted by Juliet Prowse. I loved the smooth elegance of the waltzes and foxtrots and the fiery stalking moves of the tango and the romanticism of the rumba. As I got older and they stopped airing the competitions on PBS, I gobbled up every dancing movie I could.  I had always thought about taking ballroom lessons but had always left it as a "someday" idea. Last year, I realized I could wait around forever for the exact right time to take lessons, so I bit the bullet and signed up for some introductory lessons at a studio close to my house. I was immediately hooked.

My instructor is the right mix of demanding and gentle for me. I am challenged by what he asks of me and I don't always get the steps perfectly, but he never allows me to feel bad about it or beat myself up about it. I have learned dance steps, yes. I have refined my technique within the different dances most assuredly. But I have also learned patience with myself. I have learned that I can do something difficult and be good at it. I have learned that I can be elegant and graceful--two words I would never have used to describe myself a year ago.

Ballroom dance lessons are the best gift I have ever given myself.

M is for Music

I imagine there will be a lot of "music" postings for today's A to Z challenge letter.  And I LOVE that! It just shows how important and amazing and universal the power of music is.  As a matter of fact, just recently, a Facebook friend posted a beautiful video detailing how music is being used in nursing homes to help residents engage and respond. Here it is

It brought tears to my eyes because it proves to me the power of music.  I love music for many reasons and I love so many different types of music. I enjoy music that makes me want to get up and dance, I enjoy instrumental music that is so beautiful it makes my heart ache and brings tears to my eyes.  Music makes my work day go faster and when I'm feeling down I can listen to some of my favorite songs and music and feel better almost instantly.  One of the most amazing things technology has done is allow us to take vast quantities of music with us wherever we go in something that takes so very little space. We can have our entire music libraries with us if we so choose! And to be without music is to have a very unsatisfying day in my opinion.

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.” 
― Aldous Huxley