Spinning and Balance

Seems there was a month

of significance

"this year"

a bad one and a good one!

sigh......

this year...the one

I have officially titled

"My Terrible Wonderful Year"

(possibly the name of the memoir

I will be writing or Treading Water.)

The year, being April to April.

when, I was seemingly,

spinning out of control

in reckless grief...and more broken

than I could ever imagine being!

(more about this in April.)

Recognizing that when things

begin to crumble,

and the sand is washed out

from under our feet

THAT wobblyness...is an opportunity

to reach out...

not for anyone to save you

but to grasp our own strength,

our own center...and center ourselves!

It begins with outreached hands,

for the possible,

for the new, the unexpected,

for the small flighted surprises,

to make their landing in our palms,

to see all the invisible orange ladders

waiting for us,

and the invitations to be answered

with a Yes, WHY NOT?

My life in a mirror does not resemble

the disaster I was last April,

...gratefully.

Despite the hard work, personal inventory

and heart breaking losses

that were required to get to this

place of wonder and celebratory joy,

it seems seeds were also planted,

while not recognizing it.

Tracing their trail back to October

where four seemingly significant events

became the blooms of flowering

dreams I didn't know I had .

These are those seeds!

Facebook.

My love/hate relationship with it

solidified into love when it turned up

an old HS classmate, Marjorie McKeever

(hope, it's okay I mention your name M?)

Never having spoken word one back

in the seventies,

we became fast and best friends,

drastically altering one another's paths

(yes, thru the Internet,

she has her own amazing story to tell

about this.)

One way for me,

was when she saw a posted pic

of my lame attempts to

hula hoop one night at a party

a longtime Hooper herself,

she suggested Hoopnotica

I ordered one, and fell in love

then proceeded to buy them

for all my friends.

These are not your dime store

version hoops,

they are weighted for balance

and a great work out!

Before leaving for Santa Fe that month,

my paddle gals and I had

a Stand Up Paddle Board demo lesson

from John Burns of SUP Kulture.

It was an instant connection,

loved the guy, loved the sport!

While I worked and sold in SF,

an ad ran locally,

a call for unprofessional dancers

to learn the Thriller dance,

before my friend finished reading it to me

I was saying "absolutely, lets do it"

But learning it was another story,

"too hard, I suck!"

but the instructor, Marlo said

"stay, enjoy!" And I did.

(That meeting led to

discovering pilates and yoga.

Learning to breathe, bend and balance

which ignited my level of creativity,

into a firestorm of words and ideas

and nonstop energy!)

Outside of Santa Fe lies

the wondrous Taos,

Wanting to love it,

I didn't really but accidentally landed at

Mabel Dodge Luhan House

an historic place of gathering

artists and writers,

feeling their cumulative energy

still present,

and there was a labyrinth!

Where an important question

was asked and has been answered

by these last months of beginnings!

Four months later,

I am a small part of a 'dance studio?'

(Which makes me laugh!)

And the opportunity to collaborate

with someone

who knows how to live large

and inspires me

to believe in the possiblity of wild dreams.

As well as offering a place to do just that.

So I have promised myself to

become a Certified Hoop Dance

instructor thru Hoopnotica,

during the following year!

(my friends laugh when I say this

but I say, Watch!)

Its a way I can actually dance!

Seems my lack of talent is hidden

by this spinning apparatus!

Meanwhile, I purchased a paddle board

and hope to learn to hoop dance on it

as well and may be even race?

WHY not!

(and...John and Marlo, will be

doing paddle Board Pilates together,

And he and I, have plans to create

a "Paddle Wild" foundation for Cancer,

in honor of Jennifer and his father!

Open doors thru new connections...

ABOUND!

Soon, I hope to return

to Mabel Dodge Lodge

for a writing workshop

from my favorite writer Natalie Goldberg

who just happens teach there!

And in my back yard next to

the hoop dance floor

will be a labyrinth...

it a full circle!

All these connected strings of beginnings,

friendships and possibilities,

started in October,

simply, by confirming a FB friend,

answering an ad, trying a new sport

and other things I couldn't do well,

and ending up somewhere unplanned!

My friend Marjorie calls it

Synchronistic destiny.

SD for short!

Synchronistic destiny, indeed!

So are you paying attention?

They may be happening to you as well!

Watch for the invitations, the ladders

and landings of flighted surprises.

My wobblyness now?

Only shows up

on the dance floor,

the paddle board, pilates

and inside of a hula hoop!

And I am good with that!

To all who were a part

of this adventure,

and this 'terrible wonderful' year,

those who held my hand

and those who let go...

(you know who you are.)

Thank You!

Happy to report,

I am still spinning

but now...with explosive joy!

Yaay!

Pam Piper Rain

http://studiosevenhavasu.com

http://www.hoopnotica.com/

ww.supkulture.com