A Naked Ballerina
/A little boy came home from school and told his mom that his teacher had asked all of the kids in his class to come to school the next day, dressed as the thing they wanted to be when they grew up.
His mother said, “What are you going to dress up as?”
The little boy replied, “A ballerina.”
The mother said, “Boys can’t wear tutus.”
The little boy said, “Oh.”
The next morning the mother told her son and her daughter to get dressed while she made breakfast.
The kids got ready and came into the kitchen.
The girl was dressed and the boy did not have any clothes on.
The mother said to her son, “What in the world is going on? Why aren’t you dressed yet?”
The little boy said, “Today is the day we go to school dressed as what we want to be when we grow up.”
The mother said, “And what would that be?”
The little boy said, “A naked ballerina.”
With that, he lifted his arms over his head and pirouetted, leapt, and pas de bour·réed across the open space.
This story comes from a college classmate of mine -- he was the naked ballerina.
He told this story more than 20 years ago, and I still think about it sometimes.
That call, that yearning, that sense of self that propels us forward with or without a tutu wrapped around our waist.
It’s getting stronger, that call, for all of us, don’t you think?
Since the election, I can hear it in the night. It’s almost like a distant hum or a far away whisper that keeps saying over and over and over again, to all of us here on planet earth:
- Be the naked ballerina.
- Make that tiny tear in the order of things.
- Re-wire the beginning.
- Undo the ending.
- Make space in the middle for a dance to come forth — a dance that we do not know and cannot understand —yet.
This dance in the middle, it is about being with the unknown. It’s about staying curious -- about everything. It’s about following the deepest part of your creative self. As that part of your being opens up and out, surfacing from the deep blue sea of you, things begin to fall and then land in new and thrilling configurations, patterns, and orientations.
Dig in.
Spend some time in this place of wonder.
When you do that -- this dance that is in the middle -- it will organically grow and deepen, creating a wide palette of synchronicity and grace that then becomes available to every single one of us .
This then feeds the capacity for listening, understanding, and empathy within the ensemble of this planet we call home.
Be the naked ballerina.
It’s time.
With Warmth on this Cold and Wintery Day, Joanna of Joanna and The Agitators sweetly agitating/persistently upending www.joannaandtheagitators.com
PS: 1. TAKING ACTION:
I am currently starting a new email list that will be dedicated to taking strategic action and engaging with prudent organizing in response to this most recent election.
Sign-up here to be added to this email list.
2. It's time to take some FREE DANCE CLASSES:
Tuesday, January 10th And/OR Thursday, January 12th
10:15-12:15pm at The Boulder Circus Center
Email me if your interested in attending one or both of these classes.
3. Dog Dance happens next Friday, December 16th.
1510 Zamia Avenues, #101 7pm $5
xo jo