First Big Show!

Tonight will be the first public performance for our beginner’s group! After weeks of practicing and the last-minute addition of swirly skirts, we’re ready to show our stuff. I’ve been on stage before, but it hasn’t been since oh, around age 10 that I’ve been performing dance and dance alone—and NEVER bellydance. Maybe it’s no small coincidence that my parents recently sent me photos including one of my dance recital outfits—a 6 year old Amber in a yellow-and-black-tiger print catsuit complete with ears and tail! I had forgotten how many years of my youth were spent in dance class, how immersed in it I had been.

Another nexus of coincidences:

My horoscope for this week from Freewill Astrology:
Author Rick Fields wrote about the time a friend called to recommend a workshop he'd signed up for. "You've got to come," the friend said. "This seminar will completely change your life in one brief weekend." Fields was skeptical. "I don't want to completely change my life this weekend," he replied. "I've got a lot of things to do on Monday." I urge you, Leo, to adopt a similar stance toward any big educational experiences that promise to dislodge you from your routine. APRIL FOOL! I lied. In fact, the astrological omens suggest you'll benefit from responding to invitations that just might thoroughly upgrade your world very quickly.

I was scanning the minicourse offerings for this spring (how I originally got involved in bellydance) and came across a workshop titled “Field Journaling for Heart, Art, and Science.” Here is the description:

Have you ever wished you could write about your favorite park or capture on pen the lines and colors of a Mendota sunset? How exactly does one bring a sense of place into their work and lives? Turn field notes into stories of your own. Writing informed by the field can make for vivid stories. Learn how to create that sense of place, incorporate science and observation and expand your powers of illustration. We will journal through a variety of field exercises for observation, description, drawing, and documentation. Non-drawers and writers are encouraged to attend and be delighted and surprised by your ability to journal. Please bring a notebook/journal with you and clothing suitable for spending time outdoors. 3 meetings. INSTRUCTOR: Erin Schneider is an experienced educator, amateur naturalist/writer and a lover of people, place, and parsnips.

Journaling has always been one of my passions. I feel pretty mutable and distractible in most pursuits, but I can’t NOT journal, really. It’s always going on in my head and I so I write it down to keep it from getting even more crowded up there. This workshop just seems right up my alley. Furthermore, my horoscope suggested being open to experiences/seminars that might vastly change my life in a weekend.

The final snippet that, to me, completes the coincidence triangle: the instructor is coordinator for community supported agriculture in Madison. In a nutshell, CSA’s allow folks in the community to buy shares of local farmer’s crops, thereby supporting local agriculture AND providing people local produce. Andy and I bought a share for this summer, so every other week we’ll get a box chock full of good veggies and fruits. This is the first year we’re doing this and so I enjoyed the coincidence that the teacher of the workshop I want coordinates this as well.

I’m not making some grand prediction that my life will change OR really putting much weight in it. Though my family isn’t especially religious, we were raised to be mindful of “synchronicity” where strange coincidences may reveal a pattern or two. So we’ll see!