When I was in the fourth grade, I took a ballet class with Mrs. Glousinger. I’d always been a heavy child, but in that class it didn’t matter. I loved wearing my little pink tutu and tights and I thought I was just as cute as the other, thinner young girls. I’d always been very agile and flexible, so I had no problem moving gracefully from first to fifth position or doing my pliés at the bar. My teacher was always encouraging and she never made me feel that I didn’t belong in there, so I believed that I did. And I danced my little heart away.

That was the last time that I danced for twenty-four years.

Sure, I used to go to the clubs with my friends and we’d set the dance floor on fire when any of our songs came on. But I needed more than a few cocktails to give me that liquid courage I needed before I could step out onto the floor. Read the rest of this entry »

I’d wanted my first post in this blog to be one about the peace and tranquility that I have been seeking. Instead, something happened today that jarred me right out of my peaceful bubble and I realized that I needed to write about that more than anything else.

We’ve all had those times where we’re floating along that lazy river of calm, the raft gently rocking with the current as we moved along the waters of life. And just as we began to drift off into that peaceful nap that we’d been hoping would come upon us for the previous hour – CRASH! We’re suddenly tossed onto the rocky shore, breaking our reverie and skinning our knees in the process. Or maybe the jostling  wasn’t so severe that it resulted in the need to be bandaged up. Maybe the raft tipped over and we were thrown into the freezing cold waters which resulted in us having to use extra towels. However severe the jarring, we’ve all been startled from our calm on more than one occasion and it usually was not a pleasant experience. Read the rest of this entry »