CFC Blog #03: My Month with Music
(PIP NOTE: BETA #3 I think this note is about freedom and joy and passion and how they all mix together and perhaps that we don’t typically cultivate such spaces and/or spirit… Julie is the third of our ten writers I am so happy to spotlight… I aimed to foster a group of ten who would share deep values of community and would write from a space of "part of us all as a group of 260 ‘community advancers’” and not write “at us all”… And that each of the 10 would have uncorrelated thinking and topics that somehow would all work together inside the wrapper of a similar 60-second thought form… we also wanted the perspective of personal experience not concepts and our learning as opposed to our “expertise”… I will NOT be writing my lead-in like such for long… instead I will leave it to a professional like Amanda to build bridges as she does juuuust below.)
The following piece by Julie Sun inspired me to rethink about the greater time I can spend joining with the eyes and hearts of human beings rather than sitting behind the computer and iPhone screens that are constantly around me as a busy college student. This piece also vocalizes the magic and joy that can spring to life when we live in harmony with the present moment. I think that when we try new things and let our vulnerabilities and troubles melt away, we can focus more greatly on others and the fiery love and positivity that sparks all around us in the current moment. Thanks Julie!
- Amanda
(From Julie Sun)
My Month with Music
July was a month of self-discovery and new experiences.
It was the first summer my kids were away while I stayed behind in NYC. I made a conscious decision to not feel anxious or sad. Instead, I was to focus on myself and spend July working on becoming…
…a better dancer.
I spent every spare moment immersed in the dance studio, the socials, focused on existing in lock step with energies that fueled passion, love and positivity. Learning how to dance taught me how to be in the present like I've never been before. To listen, to feel, to interact... to appreciate and play the roles we each play in life with utmost beauty and strength.
I danced my heart out.
I connected with people that I hope will be a part of my life until the day I die.
I felt happy and alive.
Like the Wizard of Oz, on my salsa journey, I met a band of misfits with nothing in common other than the time slot we choose to show up for class. As a group, we were merely novice dancers; but the enthusiasm, love and tenacity to try and achieve, made us vibrant and magnetic. We were fun, sexy, and owned any dance floor that would have us.
In spending time with my Salsa Posse, I got to see their hearts and meet their souls.
What we had in common was the awareness and intent to live life to the fullest through compassion, acceptance and loving ourselves. We all practiced harnessing our own hurt, vulnerabilities and experiences into existing with optimism, openness and love. This manifested itself in our care for one another, our sexy dance moves, and the laughter we shared in the endless bantering. I think this is what Plato meant when he said "You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." I feel like I know them for years not weeks.
As the month came to an end, I found myself equally eager to hug my kids at the airport as I was filled with gratitude for the month I lived with music. July could’ve been painful and filled with suffering but instead, I embarked on an adventure that opened a new world for me. Dance will forever be a part of me now.
It was priceless.
Julie