NOT YET ALL SUMMER 16

This was written in August. I'm posting it now unfinished cause I'm tired of seeing it in my already existing tabs.

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There's always something wonderful about summer time. Ever since I was a kid I've always admired the 95+ degree weather and sunshine like no other. This summer, I've been taking the time to really appreciate the things that I love in life. With the recent hate crimes, shootings, and negative energy in the world, AJ Delgra at The commVENTION put it very simply: "With all of this fucking hate in the world, this--this, right here [us dancing, doing what we love] is what matters."

 When I heard that statement, I had to let it marinate for a little bit. A part of me was thinking, "Does that mean for us to do selfishly what we love while the rest of the world crumbles?" However, what I ended up coming to was this: With so much hate in this world, why waste time contributing to that hate? There are so many things in this world to love, I should not embody such a hateful spirit.

 This past school year, I've self-admittedly done a lot of hating. Yes, I am/was a "hater." Somewhere down the road, I let myself swell with endless amounts of negative energy that slowly seeped forth into my daily life. Occurrences when I'd have normally been very understanding, I instead became bitter and judgmental. This affected everything--like relationships with Alexis, my close friends at NEU, family, God, etc. Overall, I was just not a happy person. Letting myself accumulate this negative energy was destructive and harmful not only to those around me, but to myself as well.

So, this summer I've been focusing on trying to be a more loving person. Grudges which I've let myself build up, I've began to let go. Old friendships which I've let fade away, I've started to try and re-kindle. While it's difficult, things have been progressing forward!

1) I've been dancing more. A lot more.

I've been going to workshops hosted by Kinematix and Revolve when I can/when I'm in Boston and went to Green Street here and there (tough when you're always in NJ). I also attended commVENTION, The Wannabes' first ever dance intensive. 10 class in 2 days--crazy tiring, but extremely inspiring! If there were a team I'd want to join in NJ off a first glance, I'd want to join Wannabes. I also went to my first House of Movement class with Jane Yoon (and Mike Myung/Patricia) to attend classes taught by Company members/alum, Alfred Remulla and Matt Montenegro. Those classes were...really hard. I also taught my first Kinematix workshop, which was AMAZING. I'll probably write a separate post on that at another point because I'll be teaching again tomorrow for summerPRO (probably the same choreo...got sick and couldn't make a new one).

Dancing helps me feel full--it helps me feel a bit more whole. I love the sense of community it brings and I myself feel I am getting better as a dancer. Yay for doing things you love, amirite?!

2) I've been making new friends/reconnecting with old ones.