Saturday, March 28, 2015

See What Happens When You Don't Give Up!


Dear Readers:

As I promised, I told you last month that I was going to discuss my goals for my work.  I have spent the entire month trying to be as productive as I can, and really hone in on future plans for work.

It is a great feeling to love dance so much that it doesn't feel like work. I am always thinking about how to make physically integrated dance more mainstream and accessible to more people through my work. I am going to be in a piece with other dancers and choreographed by my dance partner, Maddy this coming summer. I don't have more specifics to report now but my mind is always working and I'll keep you posted.  

In terms of my speaking career, I am working with my Mom and my speech coach to develop a mission statement to know I exactly want to accomplish as a speaker.  This journey has been difficult and confusing, but all the same, rewarding.  Now I see a clearer vision of my next steps and goals.   

Being a Project Assistant for the IAMC is still an valuable position for me. I meet important people from around the state who are advocating for the disability community and I am learning skills to pay forward. I am looking forward to A Day with David Wetherow: Rediscovering Your Personal Power. Check out iambc.org Upcoming Events for details and join us at the end of April. 

At the beginning of last month I was experiencing pain that was so intense that I was like, “How am I going to get over this barrier?”  I am very happy to say, that even with all this chaos of trying to figure out my life and my career, my pain level has decreased, thanks to my dedication to dance, NIA and yoga.

Finally I would like to end with something else that I have found extremely rewarding.  A few months ago I talked about a breakthrough that I had in dance.  Just the other day I had another one.  In dance you have what is called a working leg and a standing leg.  I was in modern dance class and was beginning to feel, for the first time in my life, that I can feel grounded on my standing leg.  I felt so grounded in fact, that I felt I could lift one of my legs and keep the other one down.  This was a HUGE accomplishment for me, because when you have CP, your body often does not do what you want it to do.  When it does, it is so magical and you feel like you can take on the world! 

I wish you good luck on any new goals you have been working on.  

Happy Spring :-)
Jessi