Dream Follower: Today I was Social. Sort of.

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The Double Meaning behind the blog title 'Dream Follower:'

First, for 14 years I was a ballroom & social dance instructor, and have studied both leading and following. I feel that learning to follow is full of nuance and is often misunderstood. I made it one of my personal goals to become a really excellent follow on the dance floor, and will probably talk a lot about the art of following - both in and out of the context of dance.

Second, I am a huge fan of author Michael Ende, probably best known for The Neverending Story. The book is incredible, and the first film captured some of the essence. (Please don't watch the other two films...I urge you to read the book though!) Anyway, at least twice in my life I have been caught in a storm of my own indecision, and my inner Moon Princess yelled to my inner Bastian...'Why don't you do what you dream?' I tear up even now as I write this little blurb. The tension between being practical, keeping my feet on the ground and my head out of the clouds (at the risk of compromising my inner vibrancy, true self, and who knows what else)...and reaching for my true dreams (at the risk of losing everything) is still a very real struggle. In fact, one of those struggles lead to my 14 years of teaching dance, so we can see which voice won the battle that fateful day when I was staring at the want-ad...

And so I strive to be two kinds of Dream Followers in my life. One has to do with connecting with others, and the other has to do with connecting with my inner Moon Princess and the world of possibility that opens when I do...

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Today I was Social. Sort of.

I met my second cousin for lunch, and my best friend for dinner and a movie. We saw the actor from Criminal Minds at the galleria, which was kind of fun.

Then I decided to go to a neighborhood Irish pub for a beer. Alone. This was already a venture beyond my normal comfort zone. I sat and watched a baseball game that was re-running, and found myself enjoying the game. Been a while since I watched, and it brought back great memories of watching or even listening on the radio. Bases loaded, no grand slam, but got to see some action.

I decided what the hell, and got a second beer, which is a lot for me because I am a lightweight.

It was still only the 5th inning.

Then I heard someone say something about a dance floor.

so of course I had to go. Because for me that is familiar. Safe. No one can hit on me on the dance floor. Plus I just cut loose like I'm in a music video because I can do what I want without waiting for a lead, and I can really interpret the music however I please.

of course that was not the purpose. I was supposed to break out of my comfort zone, not fall right back into it.

Baby steps.

It was a step. And it was different. Maybe I'll do this again. I don't know. I didn't exactly make new friends or anything, but I did do something new.