Making Special on a Friday afternoon

 I feel like I could have blogged about making my personal space special because it is actually very special to me. I've moved maybe 10 times in the last two years between houses and even back and forth across the country a few times. I've really come to realize that home is where the heart is so I tend to take as much of my heart with me every time I move and my space has become something like a bunch of little shrines, if you will, to things that inspire me. For example, I've dragged my books all over the place (thank god for media mail!) and I've taken a lot of time to arrange them on my bookshelves in each new place I've lived. Then there is my alter with my shells and my little Buddhas. I also like to paint (an act of making special in itself) so I hang up my paintings in particular places on my walls. I'm in love with the ocean so I bring it with me in my artwork.

Emma Zawacki, 2010

But what I really wanted to blog about was the act of making special through movement. Dance has always been a part of my life. I remember getting dressed up in my favorite hot pink tutu, the one with the silver sequins, and putting on my very own living room production for my private audience made up of my stuffed animals and my mom. I have since grown out of the hot pink tutu but my passion for dance has only increased.

Entering the ballet studio (which I did Thursday after a little summer hiatus) is a breath of fresh air. It is a place where awareness of the world outside, with all its trials and stresses, melts away and is replaced by focus and inner awareness. It has cultivated inner strength in me that helps me overcome the challenges of everyday life, and also a sense of humility by forcing me to recognize the limits of the human body. I continue to dance because it is a very personal challenge. Ballet is rigorous and demanding, both physically and emotionally. Yet, like all hard work there is something beautiful and deeply satisfying about it. It is my way of telling stories without words; It is my way of "making special." Every time I put on my ballet slippers I have to challenge myself to jump higher or turn faster, to dance as if no one is watching. This translates into the desire to grow within myself, to perfect my art, to be willing to try new things, and to continue to make grace and beauty an integral part of what I do and who I am. Ballet is no longer simply a hobby; it is a way of life. Dancing has taught me to sit up straight and move gracefully. But most importantly the very act of dancing has made me a stronger person. 

For some reason I don't have any recent photos of me dancing...but here's a few older ones.

A piece choreographed by yours truly, 2008.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmakMyy0xvE

Nutcracker 2008, Canyon Concert Ballet