Since it has been a rough couple of days, and I had Friday off, I was able to go on a little day trip with my friend Ivonne.  We traveled to Sedona, which if you are not familiar with it, is a very interesting city.  It is out in the red rocks of Arizona in the northern part of the state.  Said to be situated upon a variety of vortexes, which are areas of mystical energy that come out of the earth, it is a town populated by a variety of psychics, spiritual workers, and seekers, as well as a place of gorgeous scenery, hiking, and photography.  They also have lots and lots of stores with crystals and rocks and amazing cathedral geodes.  While poking around one of the stores we discovered a pair of cathedrals that looked like angel wings.

Ah, yes!  I am a cheeky little fairy, can’t you see!

Anyways, it was an amazing day.  It is always good to get a little bit out of my life and out of my head sometimes, and the break from my usual reality was a wonderful gift to give myself.  So we had our adventures and I’m in a different “head space” which seems a lot better and more healthy.

Part of what was interesting about yesterday was realizing that I have to be careful about every word I write.  It is a great responsibility to put all this “out there” in cyberspace, and you’ll never know who will find it and read it!  Last night I got a comment from Sveta Daly, winner of the Vegas Open that I wrote about in a previous post: Vegas, Baby!

I mean, I started this blog because I was driving my husband crazy talking to him about all things ballroom and the realizations I had while dancing.  I thought my best 3 friends in the world would follow it.  But it is really growing into something.  I now have friends across the country that I’ve connected with because of the blog.  I have readers in other countries, making the blog international, even.  I never anticipated that someone like Sveta, who along with Jason are one of the top 6 couples ranked in the world and USA, and someone that I look up to as a dancer, would be ever read my words.

If you want to learn more about Jason and Sveta you can see their website here.  Um, yeah.  They are amazing, as are most professional couples out there hoofing it every week to competitions, busting their butts to teach, practice, and travel.  It’s not an easy road, that’s for sure, and I respect those bold and passionate enough to make it their living.  In any case, congratulations are in order for Ms. Sveta and Mr. Jason for winning last weekend! (Hey, I would have said it before, but I just didn’t think you’d be reading!)  It was fun and exciting to watch you live, and all the competitors dance they way we amateur students dance only in our dreams.

Speaking of those of us who want to dance like professionals and do so only in our dreams, we are also the type of people who search YouTube for hours on end watching ballroom competitions, instructional videos, and past episodes of DWTS.  In any case, this morning I was greeted with a fantastic email message from Ellen with a link to a video of, what else, but ballroom dancing!

All the message said was “OMG  Stef – you gotta see this – wait til it gets to 1:30”

So, for your viewing pleasure, I happily share this link:

Man!  Now that is what I call being classy and calm in the face of fire.  I mean, Franco had some dude’s butt all up in his grill.  I just love his expression, like, “yeah, I’m the king” when he arises from swimming through his competitor’s legs to reconnect with his lady.  He wasn’t fazed a bit!

So thank you, Ellen, not only for the huge belly laugh this morning, but for sharing this example of our extraordinary capacity as human beings to face adversity while still maintaining an attitude of calm, centered, groundedness.  I don’t know about you, but I allow myself to get flustered sometimes when things don’t go as I plan or if obstacles arise in my path.  Franco just kept on dancing and found his way forward, maintained his cool, and won over the crowd as well.  It seems a very relevant lesson for me especially in my current circumstances.

I will find this level of self-confidence for myself and continue to move forward in my life, just like Franco did, dancing all the way.

Until next time, Stef