Dancing through life..

I'm going to take a break from my format of the past four posts, and speak (rather less eloquently, and much more frankly) about my life. These past few days have been crazy. I've moved out of my house, and I'm living in a dorm. I can come and go as I please, and can be out as late as I want. My friends who are seniors this year have been tucked away at their respective high schools for seven hours these past few days, and another friend is about to move far too many hours away.

Needless to say, it's a time of transition. And it's scary. God is really all that isn't unstable in my life right now.

I can't believe I'm starting college. I have no idea what to expect. I guess it's one of those things that you can't possibly know what it's like unless you're actually experiencing it. I've had tons of advice, but I don't think all the advice in the world is going to make this unknown any more known to me until Monday morning at 9 AM.

But, I think one thing that makes life so much better is dance. The other day, I was babysitting, and we danced like crazy people to classical music.

It was awesome.

Dance really is a part of who I am. I received twelve years of classical ballet training, and only recently have I quit. I love ballet, and miss it, but I know in my heart it's not where I'm called to be right now.

But in the meantime, I'll keep dancing. I'll dance with two small children in the middle of a hallway, I'll dance in my dorm room and forget to make sure my blinds are closed so nobody can see the ridiculous flailing. It just makes me happy to move my body, to glorify God.

In this book my mom gave me for my final dance recital, Dance While You Can, it says

I will celebrate the sheer joy of being alive... the joy of being created in the image of God.

It is so easy not to do that and to be bogged down by everything in life. It's hard. Life is hard. Who said it wouldn't be? Sometimes it can go relatively well, and other times, it can suck. But, life's what you make it. I wrote that on my little sister's mirror today when I went home, and I meant it.

You have to make the choice to see the joy and beauty in and of your own existence. I don't think it really comes naturally to anybody. It is hard, may take a while, but is ultimately so worth it.

Celebrate your creation in God's image. I think that fact goes beyond any level of understanding that we possess. And realize that even if you cannot understand, it is not any less true.