Dance like everyone is watching — and be proud of it!

I’ve talked a good game about loving and accepting my body as is. I’ve said I’m on a journey of finding my balance between eating better, exercising more and improving my health while still looking in the mirror, actually looking at my reflection, and loving and embracing what I see now. 

I’ve written about how it’s a work in progress and probably always will be. But last night I did something that, for me, took a bit of courage. I posted on a social media platform pictures of me at my burlesque class. Pictures that I normally would never post because I would deem them unflattering. Oh, I’m fully clothed in a T-shirt and workout capris and I love those clothes. But the way I’m posed isn’t flattering.

It was chair night. And when I sit in a chair, my body settles. And when it does, let’s just say that my soft curves sink into relaxation and, well, a roll happens. And I don’t like it. So I don’t have a lot of pictures of me sitting. I immediately dismiss and discard those pictures regardless of the expression on my face or the surroundings I’m in. But last night, when I got home and looked at the pictures my instructor had taken...

... I posted them. Online for my friends and family. Set them to music. 

Do I love the way I look? I do not. But, more importantly, I don’t hate the way I look. When I  picture a dancer of any genre, I think of them having a lithe, toned, athletic body. I don’t look like that. I’m soft, curvy. Kind of like a squishmallow. But I, too, am a dancer. I, too, have grace and joy in my movements. 

And so I shared the pictures. It’s not like my friends and family don’t know what I look like, right?! Interestingly enough, I’ve had a few comments from them not remarking on my body but on the joy on my face; the fun that I’m having. That’s something that I’m focused on as well, celebrating who I am and what is possible with the me that’s now.

Here’s to me, the girl on the dancefloor. The one who’s learning at age 59 that it’s not only perfectly fine to be who I am, love who I am and accept who I am but to share the joy of the things I love with others.