


Funny how two totally different people can be on the same exact wavelength. Nora, the editor for Greensboro’s skirt! magazine is celebrating a birthday this week and so am I! I was musing about another year and the milestones I’ve met in my life when I opened the skirt! site and saw Nora’s birthday blog.
I’m not a mom – at least not in the strict sense of the word – but do know what it’s like to nurture and to sacrifice mind, body, money and free time! After regular work hours, I metamorphose into a dance teacher who co-owns a world dance studio.
Like having children...I sometimes find myself wondering if I’ve made the right choices. If this was the right path for me. If the hard work and heartache are worth it....
It often comes at end of those moments – or sometimes as a blessed interruption – that students share with me how life changing learning to belly dance has been. That it instilled confidence, relieved stress or that new friends have been made.
But the number one thing that will bring a tear is when students tell me they feel safe and free to express themselves. That they’ve opened up to their creativity and their inner worlds in ways they hadn’t before.
That’s when I feel like a true blue mom. And that’s when I realize the importance of the role. It’s humbling and amazing.
Other times I sit back and watch the “real” moms of the world with great respect, and, yeah, a little yearning.
But then I’ve lived in England, traveled throughout Europe and most recently participated in a peace through music mission in Israel.
And I write for a living.
I guess you could say I’m pleased with where I am in life. I can’t think of a better birthday present.
What about you?
What does your b-day bring?
I'm coming to realize that I've spent way too long worrying about what other people think and acting accordingly when everything inside me is asking what kind of sense it makes. It doesn't and I'm finally old enough (wise enough? sick enough? mature enough?) to do something about it. Having people like you who've gone before me to light the paths is a huge blessing.
Thank you for being that for your students...and happy birthday.