Now that Tabitha (aka Senior Dance Thesis, although I bet you have that memorized by now since I’ve only mentioned it say….about 672028403404 times) is over, not only have those rehearsal times vacated but my mind has more space and energy to dedicate to other things. With Tabitha I was 24/7 thinking about either the creative aspects of the show, such as choreography, music, costumes, etc., or the production and administrative part, such as budget, securing the performance space, photographers, handling marketing and all those fun bits. It was exhausting and consumed my life and my being, but I loved it. I loved how much I lived it. And now that it’s over, I’m so sad that that part of my life is gone. The cycle has finished, and now it’s time to move on…..sigh. But that’s life, we just gotta keep going, dah?
So, the result of this (other than the emotional adaptation) is that now I have a bunch of energy left over, and I’m not really sure what to do with it. It doesn’t really make me more productive or objective–on the contrary, it only makes me more unfocused because I have all this hyped-up energy that gets let out all at once in different directions and intensities. I just have to dance to be healthy and sane! My body and my mind are conditioned to move constantly, it’s its natural state of being. Maybe that is why I am always juuuust on time–because if I am early that means I have to wait, and I just hate waiting. Waiting = not moving. To me it’s such a big waste of time. So, if I could crunch something else in that moment and just get there in time for the scheduled activity, then to me that’s winning big time! I know, I’m such a crazy face.
So on Wednesday I was feeling the effects of this excess energy. Rehearsal and ballet class helped tremendously (#endorphines) but I still wanted something more! Wed was the 20th of March, meaning I was exactly 2 months away from starting my life as a post-grad. Yikes. This really hit me and caused a chain reaction: the heavy steel ball that was hanging around in my throat hiccuped and dropped to my stomach to mess around with that area instead. Lots of fun. So I decided that now that my thesis is over, I really have to cherish these last 2 months of my undergraduate life! Who knows when I will be able to meet up with friends for an hr-long lunch? Who knows where we will be all moving to? Who knows when I’ll be able to just meet up for a late-night chat with a friend while munching some delicious popcorn? These “maybes” were haunting me. That also made me realize how I had never gone out on a weekday! Tsc tsc tsc (isn’t that what college is all about? #teacherslookaway)
So I decided that a spontaneous action was called for. I invited my friend from dance to come with me to a bar in Ardmore that has specials on Wednesdays. The request having been delivered, her enthusiasm quickly jumped in and BAM! Girls night out it was. I sprinted to my room after ballet at 8:40pm and was ready to follow her to HC on the 9:10pm bus. It ended up being such a great night. We talked, ate, drank a bit, and danced danced danced, of course. The dance floor was a bit stale before we got there, and by the time we left it was alive with shakin’ bodies, so we like to think that we had something to do with it. It felt so good to let off some steam, and move away from the academic, post-grad stress life. My mother was a dancer, so even though I started traditional training at the age of 5, I like to think that I really began dancing in my mothers womb, probably following her rhythm when she took dance classes. She also performed pregnant with me, so I had stage experience before I set my eyes on this beautiful world (too bad I can’t put that on my resume).
We were there from 10 to midnight (I wanted to catch the last blue bus to bmc), which was the perfect amount of time to get our groove on and it still got me to bed around the same time that I usually do! Voila. Isn’t that just so satisfying? Everybody was happy. Now I can check off one more thing on my graduation bucket list. Now I just need to go bungee jumping from Taylor Bell, have a pet lizard, and speak in Latin or Greek. HAH! Jk. But then again, maybe it would be fun to have a pet lizard…..hmmmm.
Wednesday’s shenanigans were a great addition to my week. It’s an example of how one can take advantage of the present circumstances without letting things fall out of control. Who says we have to live in extremes? I suggest 50/50 is a good way to go (I know I know, but not the simplest, you say). But meditation can help us get there. As can music! Last night was a lovely night for me because I was able to just chill in my room and listen to music. It can be such an easing and blissful experience. A moment to get in touch with yourself.
Another way that I have found to re-focus my energy and make up for Tabitha-Withdrawal is by starting new choreographic work with the same friend who adventured with me Wednesday night. Why not? It’s fulfilling hard work and it’s also advantageous since right now we have access to studio space for free. That will rarely be the case come May. This time the suggestion came from my friend, so I am glad we can complement each other in this way.
So with music and rhymes, and a hell of good times, now it’s time to go. And there you go.
Luci