Be the change you want to see.

This is what I posted to FB last night just before falling asleep...

"Seems I have 3 rules for dancing at 5Rhythms:

1) dance in 3 dimensions
2) take up space
3) try to detach from thinking, just move!

Oh, and HAVE FUN & SMILE A LOT"

a FB friend said, well yeah, I agree, except those are my RULES FOR LIFE!

=D

Last night went AWESOMELY. Excellent flow, mostly I was out of my own head and just moving, doing some things I believe I have only seen other people do... (but I wasn't planning them or observing myself doing them, so I'm actually not really very clear as to what precisely I was *doing*, which is a very interesting state to be in...)

I did notice that I had more people "asking to dance" with me last night, in a way... that was also very interesting (people ask to dance nonverbally there, usually by eye contact and then joining you in the space on the floor)

At one point, after the lesson, Claire asked us to join other dancers in groups of 5... < anxiety levels rising, who will want to group with me? >

We had a group of 6 for a bit, then it shifted and the 3 that joined my/our initial group of 3 melted away and we were joined by 2 others... David is HELLA tall, and looks like a friendly, meditative Lurch from the Addams family, a shorter more choleric-moving guy whose name I didn't catch though I danced twice with him later, an ectomorphic blond girl, and a (relatively) shy-moving Asian girl. I was *definitely* the fattest in our group, and also the most uninhibited in some ways. I think I blew the petite blond's mind... we were taking turns dancing at the center of our group, and holding space at the edges when we weren't dancing (and also dancing, sometimes echoing whoever was at the center, interpreting the idea or quotation we'd selected to think about)... I've no idea what I was doing that made her face and eyes look all surprised and amazed while she was watching me, but I was grinning, and moving, and loving it.

My turn in the center turned out to be brief. I didn't talk about my quotation, I just moved it. I love that I studied eurythmy with the Waldorf program... it makes it so much easier to EXPRESS some things...

The quote paraphrased: Intuition is about Knowing, not about Thinking, and something about a battle with the Ego. Maybe that last part is something I will have to live my way into the Answers, later (thank you, Rilke) because I don't really understand what was meant by it, but the first part of the passage I can live now, in Dance, and in other Expression.

Moving While Fat is still just MOVING. I dunno why, but nobody gives me flack for being fat while dancing... and 5Rhythms is the BEST about being welcoming and fun.

Just DANCE, my babies!!

How children are raised is how they behave when under stress.

For instance, attempted rape or sexual harassment.

Trigger warning, but I wanted to boost this signal because she hits the nail on the head about what happened for me with my own date rape in college.

Read the comment strand too.

a follow up which I found quite educational: Who FB friends your rapist? Assholes who aren't really friends to you.

my dear friend Sarah is coming to visit from London for two weeks! She'll be splitting her time between me and her other bestest friend from Aberystwyth, Jenn (who I gather lives in SF!)

OMG this is going to be fun!!

Recommends for nature walks, cool shopping venues or farmers markets, cultural events that are "must-do's" and upcoming social events and invitations to dinner between the 14th and the 30th, hereby being solicited!

She's a foodie, too, so I know I'm taking her to Oliveto's and Luna Ristorante and probably to Greens and Millenium (Unless Jenn takes her out to one of those last two instead... LOL < /feeling competitive>)



Advice? Suggestions? Bueller? Bueller?

or if you do drink and walk, watch where the hell you put your foot...

argh.
Last night was Wine and Song at thechoirloft, and I got to say hello to and get hugs from cortneyofeden and ef2p before they had to scram. Got to admire Chris's baby daughter Veronica, and some brief baby-talkin' with his lady (whose name I did not catch.) Had some good conversation with zpdiduda, blackberry74, vvvexation, and trekster, among others. I also got pettin's from trekster, she was very snuggly and that was nice cos I have been skin-hungry for awhile.

I wasn't even "drunk", just somewhat merry, and I saw OOOH! Fire! out in the backyard as coyote3405 lit a bonfire with old Christmas pine branches...

so I went out to help, I said, "Oh, can I..."
*whups*
*OwFuckOwFuck OW!*
as I rolled my ankle in the water-gutter they have in their backyard.
I did NOT break the wineglass, which Mark said was good since it was their almost-last one of the set. *woot*
I DID bend myself fairly spectacularly...

however many rushed to help me minimize the damage - props go to brian1789 who ran inside immediately and fetched out an icepack (- thanks, Jay, the injury surely would have been a fair bit worse today without that quick action), thats_ms_dragon, who kept me company outside and firmly fetched me water when I asked for another glass of wine - she is teh smart, cos lord knows with a sprained ankle I did NOT need more vasodilation! Others came by to chat and check in, which again was nice, and comforting.

Down side was, I had REALLY been looking forward to soaking in the tub... but the ankle would have swolled up as big as my head if I had, so, *regretfully noting the necessity* I look forward to doing so another time.

After a wee bit of elevating the leg propped up on the patio chair, I hobbled inside and conned celticmoni into letting me have the chair with the leg-rest. Good conversation there, and I got to observe her L33+ M0M skillz in practice... she's endlessly patient, respectful, and loving with her Sprout. I admire that a LOT. Mark came back to hide from the thinning crowds and play solitaire for a bit. celticmoni got the Sproutling's socks and shoes back on to head home, and I curled up on the bed he abandoned (not before he'd enjoyed MUCH bouncing on the bed LOL) under various shoulder-wraps and lap-throws for a bit of a nap.

Eventually we-all realized how late it was getting, while Rebecca (LJ handle?) discovered a mix-up that had meant her keys, cell phone, and sweatshirt going home instead with choirboypuppy, and that got sorted out while eeyore42 and deedeebythebay and I kept her company...

Then Jeff helped me to walk down the driveway-that-is-a-fairly-steep-hill and brought Percy over close so I didn't have to walk so far to get into the car.

Hobbled into the house, piled into bed after I found the ACE bandage, wrapped myself up pretty adequately, took 600 mg Ibuprofen, and fell into sleep (this was pushing 2:30 am IIRC). About 7 or so the ankle woke me again, I schlepped my ass into bathroom for more Ibuprofen, unwrapped the ankle (it was throbbing), and ZONK was out again till nearly 1 pm. Probably the smartest thing I could have done under the circumstances - which were me sleep-dep all week on TOP of this recent injury... Yeah.

I was stretching a little and checking range of motion with my leg and foot, but Then Jeff Woke Me The Best Way, and I also got to make "dessert" for him which was way cool, and then I re-wrapped my ankle after cleaning up, and he made us brunch with a sausage-and-pepper stirfry which we ate with tortilla chips and sour cream. Yum. Jeff also told me that he was proud of me for how I handled my injury, and I said thanks but I couldn't have been so calm about it without so many people helping take care of me, which was indeed awesome of everyone.

Now, I'm having more tea and reading a cheep Mercedes Lackey Valdemar novel, and I'm going to go back to that right after finishing this and checking email briefly.

Hope y'all had a ... um, less PAINFUL Friday night than mine. *grin*

Yay for people who will take care of me after I hurt myself. *rah*