8 Priceless Things I Learned From Dance

Dance has been a huge part of my life for so long, and there are some lessons I learned through dance that I don't think I could have learned any other way.

Here are the 8 I think were the most valuable.

1) Punctuality

"Early is on time and on time is late."

I can't count the number of times I heard my Dance Director say that.

Ever since dance team, I feel genuinely in distress if I am going to arrive somewhere a few minutes later than I am supposed to.

I've learned to plan my time wisely, to account for traffic and other unpredictables, and I have been on time to classes, work, appointments, and lots of other areas in which a good impression and/or punctuality was necessary.

2) Organization

 Dance bags had to have everything on our checklist, or else demerits were issued. Every piece of a costume had to be in just the right place or I might not make it onstage in time.

If I needed bobby pins, a band-aid, water, Advil, or anything else, I had to know exactly where to find it. 

I LOVE being organized and getting organized (I get indescribable pleasure from color-coding. Not even joking). And it has been SOOOO helpful in my life! So many stresses have been avoided by being organized, and it's definitely a skill that pays off in all areas of my life.

3) Appreciation for my Body and Self-Love

Dancing really helped me to see all of the amazing things my body could DO, which helped me see my body in a way besides comparing how it looks to magazines, etc. Improving my dancing skills and working hard helped me appreciate my body and learn to love it just how it is. It also helped me take care of it - exercise (a LOT of exercise), eating right, and taking precautions to avoid injuries.

4) Resilience

The dance world is not one where everyone gets a 1st place trophy all the time. There were many awards nights where our name was read earlier than we'd hoped it would be, and we learned to take what some might call failures and use them to be better next time. Our only real competition was ourselves - trying to be better than we were before. And sometimes, our hard work paid off with a huge trophy, but sometimes, our best still wasn't good enough for 1st place. Dancing helped me learn to let those times when I didn't get what I wanted roll off my back and be used simply as motivation to improve.

5) Teamwork

There is something inseparably bonding about sweating your face off next to someone, even if that someone wouldn't necessarily be your best friend outside of dance. There is something insanely valuable in working towards a common goal, something so uniting that helps you see past any differences you might have. Dance taught me how to work together, how to use one another's strengths to meet a goal.

6) How to Stand Up For My Beliefs

It can be scary to stand up for something, especially if doing so stands you up against someone you respect. But by making certain standards known to my Directors, I was able to build an incredible two-way relationship of respect. They respected my beliefs and would even ask me about costume choices etc. ahead of time to make sure that I could be comfortable and stay within the boundaries I believed in. That was so incredibly empowering and taught me that standing up for something or not deviating from something others might disagree with does not have to be dividing or scary.

7) Compassion and Empathy

Being so close to others while enduring grueling practices, rewarding victories, disappointing losses, and emotional performances creates a bond that is indescribable. Some of my closest friends to this day are from middle and high school dance teams. There were some really deep discussions and moments spent as a team that I will never forget. I can still picture conversations I've had with people who I might have otherwise considered to be very different from me, conversations that have created a place in my heart for those people.

8) Confidence and Leadership Skills

I had so many opportunities to lead others, all of which led to me being humbled soooo much and which most of all helped me to love others in a way I never thought possible. When you're onstage, you do your best. If you make a mistake, you don't show it. You smile through and you don't lose confidence in yourself. You shine. No matter what. That is something I have applied in SO many areas of my life that I am sooooo thankful to dance for teaching me! I can do anything I set my mind to, no matter how daunting.

Dance was such an amazing part of me becoming who I am today, and I am eternally grateful to those who have helped dance be a part of my life and have helped me learn all these lessons!

Author's Corner - I Freaking Did It

I HAVE FINISHED WRITING A NOVEL.

via GIPHY

Okay, "finished" is a bit flexible, because I still want to go through and revise etc. But I did it! I have a complete manuscript, just one that needs some fine tuning.

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me - I hope I can continue to lean on you as I push through to the next steps of revision and eventual publication!

As promised, here is the first chapter of my novel as a celebration of
FINA-FREAKING-LY
having a complete book!!

Author's Corner - I'm Giving Up

You may have noticed that I've been a little MIA lately.

I've been dealing with all those wonderful things that come with the end of a semester:

big projects that make me want to cry,

finals that I honestly just don't care about at this point,

and figuring out things with our apartment contract (hellooooo moving!).

Mostly though, I haven't been posting because I've been struggling with my perspective on writing.

Particularly, on writing my novel.

I made you a promise, and I intended to stick to it, but I found myself lacking motivation.

I was tired of my story - I've read and worked on the same thing for what feels like forever, and it's honestly gotten kind of boring at this point.

Beyond that, I found myself asking myself: Why?

Why am I doing this?

What do I want to gain from this?

Do I really want to go through all of the struggles and rejections that come from trying to get into the publishing industry?

And what I decided was this:

I'm giving up.

Not on my novel, not on you, not on myself, but on what I thought I needed to achieve to be successful.

I'd considered self-publishing before, pretty seriously, but I had been trained to think of that as the easy way out, or the way to go if you aren't a "real writer."

That's like saying moms who had a C-section aren't real moms!

Preposterous!

What it comes down to is this:

I have a story I want to tell.

I want other people to enjoy it.

I want the satisfaction of holding it in print, all bound and covered.

Those are my goals.

That's what I want.

For me, the best way to achieve that is to look into self-publishing.

I'm not saying traditional publishing is bad by any stretch. That's like a C-section Mama saying that traditional birth is bad.

What it comes down to is what is best for the mom and the baby.

This book is my baby, and what I think is best for it (and for me) is to get it finished and get it out there!

I have 6 days left to finish this book, and I expect y'all to be angry at me if I don't post on the 25th with my first chapter.

So my attitude is this:

I'm giving up on the expectations I thought I had to meet to be successful.

I'm choosing to be successful in the way I want to be successful.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some writing to do.

Are Your Feet Glued to the Floor?

Sometimes, we feel stuck. We feel blocked from reaching what we want. Whether we are struggling with mental illness, skin problems, a large school load, or a house that never seems to stay clean, there is a question we must ask ourselves:

Did you glue your feet to the floor?

No?

Then why are you still standing there?

I'm not saying it is your fault if you are dealing with any of these struggles, or with any struggle. But we must ask ourselves if there is a place we could have gone for help but simply haven't?

This was the case with me.

As you know, I've struggled with skin problems for a long time, but it has gotten so much worse over the past few months. I've gotten so fed up and frustrated with it and just felt the unfairness of the world on my shoulders.

Well guess what happened?

I finally went to the dermatologist, and...

Yep. This is my face with zero makeup on.

Compared to this:

Now my question to myself is this:

Why did this take me so long?

Yeah, yeah, busy schedule, can't find the time, blah blah blah.

But I think it's important for each of us to really look at the reason why we don't go for help when it could make our life so much easier.

Maybe it's pride - we feel like we can/should figure it out ourselves.

Maybe it's playing the victim - sometimes we can find ourselves sulking/indulging in our struggles instead of getting them fixed.

Maybe it's simply not realizing that asking for help is an option - especially if it's a struggle you've dealt with for a while, you may have just never thought of the fact that tutoring centers are available to you, or that you can trade housework for painting for a friend.

God never intended for us to do everything ourselves. 

Nephi had the right idea:

34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

(See 2 Nephi 4:34-35)

God wants us to get help. He wants us to use those brains He gave us to find solutions to our struggles. He does not want us to wallow or sulk or sit watching our feet. 

So get moving! Find the help you need!

Regardless of the reason for the struggles in your life, I want you to look down and give your foot a little wiggle.

Is it glued to the floor?

No?

Then why are you still standing there?

How to Feel Good About Failure

First off, what do I mean by failure?

Well, what is our purpose here on earth?

I don't know about you, but if this is the definition of success, I am most definitely a failure.

But I don't feel bad about that. Want to know why?

Before I get into that, I hope you know that this weekend hosts the word of God as it is delivered to us in modern day through the mouths of his servants. (i.e. It's General Conference, Baby!!)

(If you haven't been watching, it's not too late! There's one more session left, and the ones that have already happened are available online here!)

I LOVE General Conference - inspired words, beautiful music, feeling the Spirit. But what I love most about it is that God uses this opportunity to make me want to become better.

How does He do this?

He points out where I am falling short.

But there is a key difference here between the way God points out where I can improve and the way I sometimes point it out to myself:

He always does it in a way that inspires me, that motivates me, that makes me believe with all my heart that I can succeed and make those changes I need to make.

There is no harsh chastisement or call to repentance.

There is simply inspiration to be better.

Bit by bit, through small and simple daily actions.

(this scripture was quoted in President Dallin H. Oaks's talk this morning!)

So why do we beat ourselves up for our failure to achieve perfection, when our God who gave us that commandment never does?

I have already been so inspired to make changes in my life based on the words of God that I have heard over these last two days. Here are a few of the changes I've been called to make in my life:

1) Go through my Pinterest and make sure I am following only that which will uplift and inspire me.

I love reading funny stories and fan theories on some of my favorite movies, but too often these contain vulgar language or are contentious in nature. There's no need to be wasting my time on that when there is plenty of good out there to see and learn from!

2) Attend the temple regularly and regularly work on family history.

This has been something that God has called me to again and again. It is essential, and should be as rooted in my schedule as prayer and scripture study.

3) Fill my spare moments with the words of God.

Like many other things with this Conference, I have been reminded of the good things that are out there to do and be. Netflix isn't one of them. Neither is wasting time scrolling through Facebook. My free time can be put to much better use. If I have a few moments where I would usually scroll on my phone, I can do that, but I'll be reading General Conference talks or the lyrics of hymns or scripture verses instead.

Which of your failures has the Lord turned into encouragement?

What can you do better?

Next time you realize places where you need to improve, please do so the way your Heavenly Father does - by acknowledging how wonderful you are, how hard you've worked, and how capable you are of achieving your goals!