You know that saying that you should never be the smartest person in the room?
Today, I lived that.
I auditioned and joined a dance club at my university. Turns out I’m the only freshman in the club.
As a dancer, back home, I would spend whole weekends watching dance masterclasses on YouTube, rewinding and replaying fire moments, attempting to imitate the best combos I had ever seen and make my body mirror the professional dancers’ movements.
This is still one of my favorite pastimes, watching hours of YouTube being in constant awe of the skill and body control other dancers have, and getting excited as I slowly level up and learn from them.
Today, I experienced this in real time, 3D.
I know, I know, I’m giving very covid screenager, introvert home alone vibes. I need to touch grass, meet people, see… Stuff. But I’m being real!
Outside of my three hip hop teachers ever, I have not had much face-to-face experience with professional skilled, A-plus tier dancers.
This is lowkey ridiculous, living in Atlanta, a home to hip hop.
Back to the topic, I am really pumped, because today I met 14 other dancers in my university, all of whom have a defined personal style, and many of whom are as good as the people I’ve been watching starry-eyed since middle school.
In my first practice today, I was moved.
My new teammates are good. Beyond good. Spectacular.
What really made this shine was the praise! When someone was good, no one was afraid to say it, to call them out and make them feel seen, appreciated and fangirled (and fanboyed) over. (It’s an excellent feeling to receive, by the way.)
Suddenly, I was no longer jealous of all the kids and dancer prodigies in LA, living it up with celebrity choreographers.
I haven’t been jealous of them for a while, just hoping to join them, but today I certainly reached a new level of contentment. I felt it in my soul. “What I have here is just as good!”
And yeah, of course, no one is perfect. I’ve always gotten some level of satisfaction and happiness from my hip hop classes, no matter how un-ideal or wonderful they’ve been. YouTube compilations are only one side of each story, the highlights of masterclasses that have been planned or workshopped behind the scenes.
I’m not expecting this club to be perfect. I’m just stoked and glad to be a part of their every moment, contributing to the perfect YouTube worthy moments and the messy, daily practices.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Join a club.
Participate in your community. (I.E. Do not forsake the church. 🤭)
Encourage, Uplift, Exhort.
Two people are better than one because ⌞together⌟ they have a good reward for their hard work.
Ecclesiastes 4:9, GW
LET ME KNOW BELOW
What’s an ideal way you could participate in your community? (I.E., with no judgements, in a world a little better than ours?)
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