When The Body Has Its Reasons

Hello, it's me.  I feel like another lifetime has come upon me in a way.  Last month I felt a strange  tiredness for no reason and had no symptoms.  Then I went on vacation for Spring Break and caught a virus that has taken me weeks to feel back to normal, my normal, that is, working full time and taking 5 ballet classes a week.  "Setbacks are opportunities to learn" I wrote in my journal.  So what's new?

I have had time to reflect and realized while sick I wondered if my body would want to be pushed again ever?  Since I am my own art and science project putting together a program that works for me is forever trial and error.  I use food as medicine and attempt some form of exercise each day and it is not easy.  So what am I trying to prove?  I don't have anything.  And I have no reason to do what I am doing.  I just put one foot in front of the other and find consistency is a needed friend when it comes to dance.  Working toward a "body/mind/spirit" excellence as we age I find is more and more of a mystery than one to be solved.  "Excellence is an art won by training and habit" I wrote in my journal.

The sacrifice is enormous when pursuing excellence.  I could not be the Kobe who admits his mission to win championships takes a great toll.  Siting in ice baths after each game instead of going home to his family plus getting to the gym 4 hours early just to prepare mentally and physically for the game. At age 34 and 17 years of professional basketball and seriously changing his eating habits is not enough to keep up the intensity much longer he admits.   But he is a work of ART to watch perform.

 When I look out my window I see inspiration surrounding me.  A row of bright pink cherry blossom trees line my sidewalk to remind me that change is always in process.  There is a "running man" that I see in my neighborhood that runs rain, shine, hail, or scorching sun in soft sandals, shorts, tee, and head scarf.  He looks like he is training for those long distance runs that take place in the dessert where the temps drop to below zero at night and up over the hundreds in the sun.  WHO does that?  I would love to hear his story.  But how do you stop a running man to ask him why he runs all the time?

"Practice means to perform, in the face of all obstacles some act of vision, of faith, of desire.  Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired" quoted Martha Graham.  I have had enough counseling and psyche classes to know striving for "perfection" is not healthy.  There is something deeper going on.   I have no name for my "program" yet and being my own project I bounce back and forth from dire seriousness for about 5 minutes... to excuses... to much doubt... and questions questions always questions.????   I do not even have a specific goal I can name other than to "get stronger" in order to have more fun dancing.  I have no idea at this time what it is going to take but I do have my foods that I am experimenting with for energy.   Do you have something you practice?  Do you feel driven in any way?  Is there a running man in you?  Does your body have its reasons?

Make Each Moment An Occasion

Okay....I'm in love again.  This time with two men I found on Advanced Style.  Yes I use the term "in love" loosely and it is my nature to like to exaggerate so it is just my way of describing how excited I get when I find men that I am attracted to.  The men I admire are always from afar.  I have not been successful in relationships as I have been told my expectations are way too high when it comes to the male species.  Also when in college I took a highly interesting class called "Family Dynamics" and I remember one premise is when growing up female without brothers it is harder to relate to men except in a romantic way.  Also I have heard if one wants to learn how to have a relationship with a man begin with getting a dog.  I love dogs but only when they are not my own.  I cuddle with my best friends dog when I visit and then I walk away....with no desire to have one of my own. 

I never know exactly what it is that sets a man apart from the rest.  Kobe Bryant is my athletic crush.  Why?  There are hundreds of NBA players so what is it about him that makes me have to watch every game he plays?  Who knows why he fascinates me in a way that the others do not.  Over the years I have had very few men that capture my attention but now I have two new ones.  If you want to put a little more ART in your life check out these two men.

Derrill Osborn

I have no interest in watches.  And pocket watches not even close.  Well, Mr. Derrill Osborn made me hang on every word describing his love for pocket watches.  He is a retired American fashion executive.  His voice captured my attention and left me wanting to hear more more more....I am not sure if he is the one that said..."Make each moment an occasion" but that is my motto.  People ask me why I don't celebrate holidays?  I say, "I celebrate everyday."

Wanny Di Filippo

Wanny is from Florence, Italy and Daniel Riera  has made a mini film about him that is rich rich rich.  Wanny has a depth to him that not every man has just because he gets older.  Age has nothing to do with becoming more interesting.  In fact it can be the opposite.  If only maturity equaled interesting. Once in awhile I hear something I write down in my journal and I did from him.  "Being not appearing to be is what matters" ...  Where can I meet men like this?

Now for today's marketing gimmick at the Mall.  I walked into the Body Shop for the first time.  I found a perfume oil I was thinking about that cost $16.00 for a very small bottle.  The clerk asked me if I played the promotion game?  I told her I was not interested in promotions.  She asked me if I wanted to walk to the front of the store and play the game anyway?  Being curious I agreed.  You take a ball and let it drop through a maze and it lands on one of four different options.  The one mine landed on was $20.00 off a $40.00 purchase.  What I wanted only cost $16.00 but a larger bottle cost $24.00. She said I could get 2 of the larger bottles and it would only cost me $28.00.  Get it?  I went in and was going to purchase a bottle of perfume for $16.00.  After playing the game I supposedly would think WOW I get way more perfume for only $28.00.  I told her I was going to wait and left.  Is this the same as Super Size me? 

Am I the only one who does not like promotions?  Is there a way to shop that I need to learn?  Do you have any shopping secrets to share?