The Little Things

In the course of my life I have seen so many strange and funny things that just make me smile. Here are some of those things...

There is a man at the grocery store here who is working almost every time I go and he's just this old man that makes me smile.

Today I saw a happy old lady with her husband buying a handle of vodka. What?

Not long ago I saw a lady clearly having a conversation with a cat...

I love anytime I glance at people when they're driving and they are just singing away to the tunes.

I was working at the mall once and this little girl was belting out the words and dancing to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. So cute!

I suggest opening your eyes and looking around at these little things in life. Be observant of the people around you and you'll be surprised at how much you notice. Some things will make you cringe while other will bring a little smile to your face. I know it makes my life much fuller.

New Friends and Tattoos

As most of you know I've had a tough time making friends in this new town of mine. Well, I think Sunday was a very successful time with new friends. I have a student, Brianna, who goes to the same church and is married to Jim and I work with a girl, Julie, at Charlotte Russe, who is dating Brianna's best friend. It's all very small world and all that but it makes for convenient friend making when all those people happen to be fun. It was just one of those days where I went to church with all of them and it turned into lunch, and then chatting about pretty much everything from Fraggle Roc, to weird karate classes, to faith and marriage, and before I knew it it was six o'clock. I'm excited to have new friends, especially ones who make me laugh, don't judge me for my craziness, and are just good people in general. 

On another note, I got a tattoo on Friday. It was probably the weirdest feeling I've ever had but it was a great experience and I freakin love the thing! It looks great. I had wanted it for just about a year now and I figured it was as good a time as any to get it done. I'll post a picture as soon as it's all healed.

Art

It took me a long time to consider myself an artist. I think that often most people don't see the performing arts (dance, theatre) as "artful" as the visual arts (painting, sculpture, photography, etc). I'm not sure why that is. But I think I'm at a point where I look at what I do as a teacher and choreographer and see that it's art. Most of the time it means my students are contributing the most to the art but my hand is certainly in it. My mind has also been opened more to the idea that a lot of things are artful. Such as crafting (knitting, quilting, etc); have you ever seen an Amish quilt? If that's not art I'm not sure what is. Stephen and I often discuss the question of what is art? To me art is anything that is tangible, able to be seen/heard, mentally comprehended, and has "life" in it. And by life I mean emotion or symbolism or a message of some sort. It may be that the creator didn't intend it to be artful. Perhaps it's a child dancing to their favorite song, or a girl snapping a candid photo of a friend, or someone making up a song off the top of their head to sing to their significant other. These things can be fleeting and quick and sometimes silly but what's to say it's not art? I've come a long way in my thought process about this. I used to be certain that art could only exist with training and technique, although I do still believe that there is great value in those things, I've come to realize it's not necessary. I think what finally solidified this in my mind was something that happened this weekend. We had a performance at the studio where I teach and I had a piece in it that had five girls and women. One of the women in the dance has only been dancing since September and she has not yet mastered the technique of dance. But there was a point when I looked at her while she was performing and it was beautiful what I saw: passion, complete immersion in the moves. It was truly at that moment I was able to see what art can be and not what it should be. Again, that is not to say that anyone can be a great painter or a great actor. I do believe you need training and diligence and a natural inclination. But I am definitely going to be looking for art in places I never have before.