Self Appointed College Projects

It seems strange that we don't challenge ourselves the way that we were challenged in college. I loved school (with the exception of late night studying for tests in classes that I thought were irrelevant to the big picture of my existence). I enjoyed learning new things and filling them way back in the dusty corners of my brain only to be brought back out for useless trivia later in life.

I wasn't thrilled with getting assignments that made me uncomfortable or took time out of my daily dance, sleep, drive, sleep, dance routine but I always had a sense of pride after the completion of them (I would equate it to running a marathon... the training sucks but once you finish your hand pats your own back).

To that, I've decided that I'm going to proactively assign myself college projects. The fun creative type that you wouldn't do on an average day because it typically feels like a waste of time. However, although uncomfortable and at first glance feels like a waste of time, you can learn so much about yourself if you open up to projects.

I remember when I took a couple of poetry classes in college; each one offered interesting assignments. One time, we had to look for our favorite words in various magazines and make them work in a series of writing assignments within topics that felt simple and sweet.

I've successfully began the painful beginnings of existing in a 'beginner' space on Friday when I started playing piano.

My next project is to take my new found love of photography and explode it on to the walls of my bedroom. Steven and I took some pretty kick-ass pictures from a recent trip to Napa Valley/Santa Cruz. Stevo's and my bedroom is going to look like a sea foam ocean spray party.

Here's to self appointed college projects.

In Joy.

Uncomfortable Goals are Idealic

This evening I'm taking my first initiatives to begin really playing the piano.

It's one of those things that you keep promising yourself you'll do every time you have a heart palpitation thinking about unleashing your right brain to explode in whichever medium is most appealing. Well, my fingers are ready to manifest whatever crazy hormone concoctions are being tested and created in my noggin.

At the moment, I want to take a pop song (any generation and genre is up for grabs) and contort it into something simple, elegant and a bit sprattled with musical harmonies. Basically, create something that my fellow dancers would use for a warm up or a short piece (whether they actually use it will be up for debate b/c when/if I finally achieve this personal goal, it more than likely will stay hidden and checked in my bucket list).

This could be crazy talk... but sometimes making yourself uncomfortable and putting it out there is the way to hold yourself accountable for the completion part.

The best part about being human is that I can change my mind at anytime. :-)

Here's to scary (and slightly insignificant to life's big picture) personal goals!

Joyful.

Grateful in a Time of Transition

I am grateful for the many friends and colleagues I have. Nothing is greater than to serve with people who inspire you to do greater things.

I recently had an opportunity to serve the Down Syndrome youth in an event that was celebrated by men, women and children of all shapes, colors and sizes.

Cheers to the people who make you want to live to serve and honor our Creator's children.

I've made new friends and found new inspirations... thank you!

http://cowboyupamerica.blogspot.com/2010/06/volunteer.html

Driving is my Therapist

I love driving. I always have (unless, of course, it's on slippery roads).

Every morning I expect to have a great drive into work. It's like I have the opportunity to let my mind go to early morning recess. So this morning's round of playground therapy resulted in a realization... everyone is bound to be amazing and strike it rich among their colleagues and family.

The best part is that we don't know when our greatness will surface. For some of us we may think that our moment has come and gone and that's it. Well, that may be but I don't think so... I think big shinning moments happen often you just need to recognize them to build your ultimate level of joy and happiness. Always look for them in everyone you meet.

When I made my middle school cheerleading squad I was sure that I had achieved the ultimate level of coolness and athlete rolled up into one. When the other girls on the team talked about auditioning for the high school squad I was positive I couldn't make it so I decided to take up golf as my new sport of choice.

My decision to take up golf would be strategic because it is a business sport and if I started young I could be very impressive as an adult. I would close high dollar sales deals to people interested in giving me free make-up and pink accessories. Eventually, I would own my very own pink, purple and black golf cart outfitted with a soda fountain and snack machine. There would be a tape player with a kick-ass stereo system and I would have a compartment that held hundreds of tapes by all of my favorite artists.

My golf dream slowly faded as I was transplanted into a brand new high school where I was lonely and among people that seemed to know their friends since preschool play group.

I had missed the cheerleading audition for my freshman year so I took up theatre... stage crew.

For once, I loved to be behind the scenes and found my place in the world where I could fly under the radar and go somewhat unnoticed. That all ended when a counselor asked me to speak on school pride at an all-class/all-school assembly. My problem was that I was a new student and hadn't yet acclimated to the school... I think I had three friends to account for. They were all skaters (except for two other girls that were "gansta-fied" and only pretended to be my friend when it worked for them) and they didn't possess much school pride. So now I was in a situation where I was being asked to possibly compromise my pride and risk losing the three friends I had just made.

I accepted the invitation to speak and considered it an honor. My plan was to get up and reach out to kids like my skater friends (because the other speakers; a sophomore homecoming royalty, a junior basketball star and a senior football star certainly wouldn't address people like my new friends). I discussed the importance of standing up for things you'd like changed. For instance, if students didn't like the fact that a fence was going up where they liked to smoke (in an effort to keep them from smoking), they should take action OR just suck it up and find a new place to go... don't waste time complaining.

I really don't remember much of that event because it was at a time in my life that I didn't have a place of being. What I mean by that is that I wasn't bouncing topic ideas off of my friends or having headaches over deciding what to wear... I just showed up gave my speech and sat down (repeated that twice). I meant every word I said and I was proud of myself for allowing myself to silently shine in a potentially horrifying and awkward situation. That is still one of my proudest moments and sadly no one remembers and I don't have anyone to share that moment with. I guess, that is part of the beauty of the moment and at least my memory of it is parallel with where I was mentally at the time. I achieved greatness when no one knew me or expected it.

The next year I made my high school cheerleading team and accomplished something I thought years before was impossible. I went on to be a Varsity Captain and take third with my team at Nationals. My next challenge would be the collegiate team...

I decided that I would be better suited for dance since that has always been my heart call. I auditioned for the dance team and took my position as a freshman rag doll among the upper classman barbies. This was a huge accomplishment for me and I'm grateful I had the opportunity to dance at football games and experience school spirit at its finest. However, I had found my next arena for greatness, Disney World!

I auditioned for a character roll among hundreds of applicants and made it to the final three. I was selected as a parade performer and packed my bags for Florida. I spent months dancing with the most beautiful group of women and gay males. We took Main Street Disney by storm and as far as I was concerned... I had hit the big time. This was my next moment of greatness!

After I returned from Florida, I wanted to try out for the dance team at a larger university. I found myself in a situation where I was arrogant believing my dance skills to be superior to those at my university. I had after all, found my place in the world among Mickey and friends. I was devastated to find out that I not been selected for the university dance team. I was down on myself and chalked it up as a big helping of humble pie. This was a moment of greatness because it allowed me to reconsider my options and get serious about my technique.

A few months later, I decided that I would audition for the NBA team. I made the team and thought that I was in the highest state of achievement. For five years, I danced and served the community and my colleagues. I had attained my first salary position and was building my castle. That was a great moment.

I finished dancing and faced the challenges of coaching (and assistant coaching for the NBA team). I had hundreds of women asking for a position on the team I lead fearlessly onto the field or court for a collective 20 minuets of shine time. I directed two international swimsuit calendars. I ventured to Europe to perform and pay gratitude to the soldiers that risk life so that we can dance freely. I made some amazing friends and mentors. There... I had achieved greatness.

A higher level of greatness was soon to come...

I married my BFF in the most perfect environment.

I marinaded in family.

I took a new job where I'm growing and thriving and finding joy in my everyday!

I have achieved greatness... but none as great as whatever is in store for me in the future...

And I'm only one person. Everyone we meet regardless of their appearance or demeanor is entitled and will achieve greatness.

...My car therapy today has proven to me that everyone achieves greatness in small or big ways each day. It's exciting to see it happen, it brings joy when it can be recognized and if I look for shinning moments in my friends, family and acquaintances... and show gratitude for their light... I will be more joyful and happy.

Sheesh... this was a lengthy one!

In Joy (shocking, I know),

KeB

By the way, David Blain is RAD!

Happy Birthday to me!

I'm about an 60 minuets out from the last year of my twenties!

I'm actually excited about my thirties because there big dreams ahead... children, a new house, vacations, income, new ideas and things to be passionate about!

Until then, I'm going to make the single last year of my twenties fabulous! My goals are listed below to wrap up this amazing decade and usher myself into the next.

1. Conserve Water: I will strive to stay away from plastic water bottle and only use Stainless Steel water bottles. (However, I have two plastic water bottles that I've been reusing... I'm thinking I'll continue to use those two until it's time to recycle them.... and then I'm done.)

2. Become more Grounded: My goal here is to be comfortable in my skin and mind no matter what situation I'm in or what location I'm in (earlier this evening a group of my gorgeous dance dolls mentioned to me that I was already grounded... although I appreciate their kind words, there's always room for improvement). My guess is that I need to embrace my trusty backpack, pre-packed snacks, inspiring materials, etc. My biggest challenge will be learning not to 'project' or worry about things that do not directly impact my life. In addition, I will have to be conscious of when I'm judging others and stop myself.

3. Maximize Life: I will use the modo, "If I can, then I must" (on legal things, of course). This will ensure that I'm gaining all of the experiences that life has decided to put in front of me. I'll just have fun!

I'm grateful for the beautiful people in my life! 29 is surely to be an amazing year!!!

Happy (Joy filled) Birthday to me!

Why, Oh Why... do I slack on something I love so much?

I'm not sure the purpose on slacking on something that brings me so much joy. I've neglected my delightful blog friend for no good reason. I think she's most angry with me because she knows about all of the great adventures I could have been sharing.

To make it up to myself (and lady blog), I'm posting some fun pictures of what happens when I drink saki!

God bless the saki gods for the serious mind's antidote!

(These pictures are compliments of Sarah Schachterle during one of our stops in MN with Fluid Dance Conventions.)

Food for Thought

Today (actually just a under an hour ago), I was sitting in a lunch meeting contemplating the power of the typical tree... in it's mystical form- a trunk, limbs and branches.

I've created my own little art piece from the remains of my fruit... I call it "wisdom trunk".

The idea is that the trunk takes all of the experiences and information provided by the outstretched limbs and branches and marinades it all. Ultimately, the trunk is the wisest part of the tree (similar to our brains) and can then help direct the limbs and branches as it grows.

...not much to it and yet such delightful art! :-)