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✨What would happen if you took some time to check in with yourself and really get to know yourself
✨You might find your purpose or the root of what makes you happy
✨You might just decide to make your happiness a priority
" You're going to school for dance? I wanted more for you. I wanted you to do more than we did"
The words stung because they came from one of the Mama's in my urban village. Insert agreement number two of the Four Agreements: Don't take anything personally. People will push their narratives and project their fears unto you not to hurt you, but because it's all they know. You must decide to make your happiness your priority. I started dance classes before I started kindergarten clearly this was for a reason. I view the dance space as a microcosm, a smaller version of the world. It is where and how I work through my feeling and ideas. It is my therapy and my salvation. To me, it only made sense that this would nourish my pocket since it is the thing that nourished my soul. Insert agreement number one of The Four Agreements: Be Impeccable with the words. I thanked the Mama for her time.
I went back to school as a nontraditional student: an adult woman in her mid-twenties, a mother and a wife. Insert agreement three of The Four Agreements: Always do your best. I knew I would succeed because I am a student of life. I can imagine some of the Mama's statement was informed by the starving artist trope, but in my world, that mess went out with the '80s. By my twenties, my success as an artist included traveling the world and paid performances all while maintaining a family. I practice doing my best. There was no reason in my mind why making a purposeful decision to pursue a degree in dance wouldn't extend my success. I did my best and with the support of my household, I finished my degree and made both the Dean's list and the President's list my last semester. Now don't get me wrong it came with challenges, for example, I gave birth to my last child during the process. Imagine me in Ballet, wearing a leotard during my second trimester and performing Merce Cunningham inspired Modern Dance piece in my third trimester, it's ok to laugh...
There was a model set up and my round body didn't fit into the square space.
Insert the fourth agreement of The Four Agreements: Don't make assumptions. Asking questions and voicing my ideas saved me during undergrad. I spoke with advisors, asked questions, and collaborated on solutions that worked for me and the university. It's been some years and they came with some tears but I finished undergrad with both a Bachelors of Art( B.A) in Dance and a K-12 Teaching Certificate. That accomplishment increased my salary by about 50%( my previous salary was already a livable salary because of my previous success) I went on now have a Masters of Fine Arts ( MFA). To date, I have more than doubled my 2003 salary. The journey was neither quick nor easy but it included so many experiences that made me stronger and better. I invested in myself and learned so much about myself. I am doing what I love and the 40-hour workweek is a thing of the past. Now, college might not be everybody's cup of tea, but each of us can take the time to listen to our soul to find our calling and make a conscious decision to do that thing on purpose.
COVID’s offered us a “New Norm” you have the power to include your happiness in this “New Norm”
✨What would happen if you took some time to check in with yourself and really get to know yourself
✨You might find your purpose or the root of what makes you happy
✨You might just decide to make your happiness a priority
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💛Mya
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