We dance our lives, and our lives dance us

“But I’m just not creative!” It shocks me now, every time I hear it uttered. It shocked me when it used to come out of my own mouth.  I didn’t know the term “impostor syndrome” back in 2010, but that seems apt to describe the feeling that I just didn’t belong in the dance scene.

I only knew that when I danced, I thought with the skin and nerves of my body.  I melted into the present to commune with the moment.  And so I sought dancing out; I desired to become better at this craft.

To me, the women I invited to join the Enrichment Project appeared to embody the same presence in their dancing that I felt.  But they also appeared confident, masterful, and creative– qualities I wasn’t capable of applying to myself.

As the project progressed, I discovered that these women wrestled with many of the very same challenges I did.  We traced the origins of these feelings back to childhood, adolescence, to becoming a woman.  We aged, suffered injuries, and encountered death in many forms. 

The Journey from Grief to Joy
Photo Credit: Pixie Vision

Dance became a portal to discussing our inner workings, and this self-awareness became the first step towards healing.  That healing journey is bound up, inextricably, with a creative vitality that I was finally able to recognize and claim.

We dance our lives and our lives dance us.  The Enrichment Project, over time, became simply about dancing gracefully. 

The Journey from Grief to Joy
Photo Credit: Pixie Vision