In which she stops to take a breath...

I feel like this year has been a whirlwind of activities, and now we're four months in and finally I'm feeling more grounded, rested and able to catch up on life. It seems like I stepped onto an escalator...and found myself in a different spot. I have lots of pictures to post, videos, links and other inspirations but haven't had the time to sit and work through all of that. So, we'll go with a quick summary in my belly dance life.

• I started the Artist's Way book once again. Well, I started to help facilitate a group who wanted to do the book and got sucked back in. I have to say that the second round has given me much more clarity, inspiration and joy.
• We just finished our second Hip Circle Hafla the last weekend in March, and it was a wonderful success. I am so proud of all my students that I could just burst at any given moment, and I am so happy to have this experience to share with all the wonderful dancers in Austin. Really, I could hug every one of them right now!
• I wished for my classes to fill up and sell out...and as of today, I am almost at that point. I really do think I've hit my stride and built up enough momentum to really move forward with my teaching.
• Including this week's gig at Mirage, I've been booked three times as the head liner for local shows. Two at new venues (one I did last week), and this week at Mirage...my old stomping ground. (or is that shimmy ground...) Seems fitting that I can finally close the show at the venue where I performed my first solo. It's exciting but a little sad since the venue may be going away this summer :-(
• Next weekend I'm teaching my first ever Mother-Daughter belly dance workshop. I was approached with the idea last fall, but got caught up in the 'how'. Then, the lovely Casey stepped in to organize and help promote it. Now, all I have to do is show up!
• This June I will be performing with a live Middle Eastern Band at the Austin Belly Dance Convention (Yeah!!!!!). I've danced to live music before, but more of the drum-circle or fusion style shows. Not classic BD music or traditional formats, and I get a 10 minute set. I'm praying for Alf Leyla as my song choice because I love that song so much. Then, I'm praying that I get through the drum solo successfully.
• I'm working on a whole new belly dance site, that I hope will be as fabulous on line as I have it drawn out to be. I've really been thinking long and hard of what I need now, and what I want the site to grow into.
• I am signed up to take Sahra Saeeda's Journey Through Egypt certification course, starting this month. I love Sahra...love her dancing and when I first saw her I was so new to this dance I could not fully appreciate all the information she had to share. But I'm ready...for a 20 hour workshop at the end of this month to absorb it all.
• I have a birthday this week, and although growing older is a little hard to take at times...I could not feel more blessed in my life as I do now. This feeling, this excitement, this joy...I owe entirely to belly dance, the community that comes with it, and the creative outlet it gives me. And no, this is not just some random, drunken rambling where I declare my love of everything and everyone...it's very heartfelt. So, go hug a belly dancer right now!

And...a little warning...some time in the new future I need to change the web address of this site. Since I'm no longer a part of Troupe Mirage, in all good consciousness I can't keep using that in the web address. I will still use "More than a Mirage" as the blog name, since it seems quite apropos for my situation. I'll keep you posted on that move (and of course invite you to the new site!).

So, that's what I've been up to in a nut shell. I promise to post on each and every one of these things soon :-)

If I could turn back time

By the way, I know I've been a little slow on the blogging the past few weeks. At one point in time it looked like March postings would surpass February (for those of you counting), but gosh darn it...my typing slowed, okay it stopped.

I have lots of lovely show pics to share and some wonderful stories. If I could only set them to appear a few weeks ago, I would look really sharp and on the ball. However, I didn't and I can't so you'll have to just hear about them in the future.

Now, I know you can change the date and time of your blog but that would be deceptive. Maybe not along the same lines as Google's Custom Time Stamp which actually turned out to be an April Fool's joke.

And yes, I believed it at first. I was seriously torn up about the potential deception that could occur with emails but equally intrigued by the idea that I could make up for correspondence omissions. I had just started thinking about what would be my 'ten' emails to send out when I realized it was a joke. And, I was quite ashamed of myself...so no fake dates on the blog from me...consider it my penitence.

Balance shouldn't leave you stressed

We really can't do it all, have it all and still be happy, content and relaxed. But ohhh, that urge to multi-task runs deep!

So here is an excerpt from an IM conversation with a good friend this evening. We often vent and share snippets of our own daily angst and frustrations, tonight she was bemoaning the fact she can't do everthing.

her: I have always found it hard to balance

me: here's the thing about 'balance', people think it means holding everything in equal proportions or simulataneously. I think it means moving in and out of things so that over a period of time you aren't stuck in one place. It's very fluid, adaptive and subject to change

Perhaps I was having a rare and brilliant moment, maybe the planets did align and the right words flowed from my fingers, maybe it's just something I've been thinking about lately...really and truly thinking, and contemplating. Whatever it is, I think the word 'balance' is over used, a little trite and leaves people feeling stressed and inadequte when they can't juggle everything. I know I feel that way....all too often.

So, let's spend less time thinking about balance and think more about focus, flow, resiliency, fullness and at times, emptyness....

Coriander???????

Okay, I'm still in the process of reading from this woman's blog (same one with the time of day quiz), and came across the "What Spice are You?". Figuring that I would come up with something sultry and sexy...I tried one more for the evening. Again, go figure!

P.S. I love the part about being subtle ;-)

Your Score: Coriander

You scored 50% intoxication, 50% hotness, 50% complexity, and 75% craziness!

You are Coriander! You're subtle. So subtle that people often forget about you. You are refreshingly clean and rather odd. You're often misunderstood. Your key word is "latent;" all your potential is wrapped up tightly until "BOOM," one day you're cilantro. Funky.

Link: The Which Spice Are You Test

I'm obviously in the wrong time zone

Okay, I saw this quiz on someone else's blog and thought it would be cute to find out "What time of day I am". This must be some type of karmic joke being played on me:



The additional description is below. Keep in mind, I think coming into the office at 9:00 is early and I normally eat my breakfast in the car.

You're 6:49 a.m.
You're the time of day right around sunrise, when the sky is still a pale bluish gray. The streets are empty, and the grass and leaves are a little bit sparkly with dew. You are the sound of a few chirpy birds outside the window. You are quiet, peaceful, and contemplative. If you move slowly, it's not because you're lazy ? it's because you know there's no reason to rush. You move like a relaxed cat, pausing for deep stretches that make your muscles feel alive. You are long sips of tea or coffee (out of a mug that's held with both hands) that slowly warm your insides just as the sun is brightening the sky.

Obligatory Promise to Blog

I have absolutely no doubt that among all the New Year’s Resolutions running rampant in this universe that somewhere among the top ten list is a promise to be more consistent with blogging. I’m not saying it tops the ‘lose weight’, ‘get new job’, ‘new relationship’ promises that always bubble up within each of us…I just want to acknowledge that I’m not the only one out there feeling the need to publicly make this promise.

I started my blog in September, feeling all fresh and rejuvenated from a summer hiatus from belly dancing. I had such grand aspirations, and a lovely list of topics to pull from. The problem I realize is that list…I have come to the conclusion that lists don’t work in blogging world. Why you ask? Well think about it. Blogs are supposed to be train of thought, on-line journaling…they should be spontaneous, sporadic, unrehearsed and certainly not planned out in a systematic fashion. Hence my downfall.

So, I decided to look for inspiration and found it in a couple of sources. First, in several blogs that are well maintained by friends. Wow, I admire their tenacity and dedication…and my competitive side also says if they can do…I can do it more often and better, right????? The second came from a simple Google search. Being the ultimate researcher that I am, I thought I would go look for some tips and tools to help out. (Side note, I really am good at finding things on the Internet…I have even had librarians call me to help locate information).

What I found was actually a little scary and has now sent me scampering to start blogging again. These are the highlights from the article.

1. It’s easy to start a blog. But effort and consistency are required to
   maintain one.
2. After starting it, a blog wants to be maintained. It wants fresh posts or articles. It wants it often. And not just anything will do; it wants things people like to read.
3. Without fresh content, a blog gets stale. It whithers. It becomes another statistic.

My thoughts? Well , it turns out I am one of their statistics! Apparently, 66% of blogs (out of over 4 million reviewed) had not been updated in two months and that over a million were one-day wonders. Wow, I last posted in October…but at least, I lasted more than one day!

So, here we go again…I’m letting go of the need to write well planned articles complete with appropriate links and photos and just use train of thought. With any luck, I’ll have something very soon for everyone to look at and a whole semester’s worth of fabulous belly dancing tidbits to enjoy!