I have neglected my blogging duties but I assure you it is not due to any inactivity. I have been trying to navigate a number of new opportunities this year and I am not entirely sure yet what my take away has been. I feel like I have yet to synthesis some useful bit of information I might impart. So instead of some technique or theory I have been pondering I want to take a second to remind people to celebrate accomplishment no matter how small and love the process.
My example came yesterday while practicing a new aerial dance when one of my instructors mentioned that my splits are improving. Because historically splits are my worst skill I was confident that she was just be being polite. For the last year I have spent my time with dancers who have had effortless perfect splits and over splits. During the first few months I lived in abject shame when it came time to stretch. All the girls would fan out their legs perfectly and I would be sitting on the floor with my legs at an acute angle. To an outsider it probably looked like I was militantly resisting the exercise when in reality I was trying my damnedest and failing spectacularly. I have continued to work in tiny increments towards being more flexible but I have accepted that a full split is not something I am likely to achieve. Despite a pessimistic outlook, my curiosity was piqued by the comment so I decided to compare my splits from last night to where I was last year. To my surprise, while I am still a few inches shy of flat splits, my best effort has significantly improved.
This isolated example reminds me that during all the time we spend training it is easy to focus on what we can do today and want to achieve tomorrow. Sometimes it is easy to forget where we started and what we should be proud of.
Have you ever focused on a goal so much that you missed the other accomplishments along the way? What are you proud of today? Leave me a comment below.
Wow! That is an amazing difference!!
ReplyDeleteI have a tendency to get so focused on one goal, then get disappointed when it doesn't happen immediately. Like doing a handstand, or trying to climb silks. Now that I haven't been doing circus arts for almost a year, I realize how much stronger and more flexible I was (even though it was nothing compared to those with a dance background or whatever).
I am right there with you!! I am decidedly not bendy, but the other day Kabir mentioned that my splits were looking good, and I realized how far I had grown.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote briefly on this topic recently (http://stupidcircus.tumblr.com/). About a year ago, my ultimate aerial inspiration posted a pic of herself in a Scorpion, and I thought, "Wow, how beautiful! I'll never be able to do that!" Lo and behold, I learned the very same trick recently and didn't realize it until a couple weeks after.
It's so important to get that perspective every now and then.
I've been going through the same thing with my splits. I'm always embarrassed to be the least flexible and fit in my Fitness and Flexibility class, but I think I'm the closest to the grown I've been on my right splits (my weaker side). Today I submitted my second burlesque routine, the first one I've choreographed on my own. I've been so caught up with how awful I am at costuming that I didn't realize how much work I put into the entire act and that the video didn't turn out half-bad.
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