"You never really do anything in isolation"

Even though sometimes it feels that way.

Marcie Mamura is teaching at Chi Mac right now. She's a wonderful woman with amazing stories and a really lovely, contagious energy.

We were spending some time together talking about adventures and how simple things can be very exciting. She reminded me of the man I often see on my drive to the studio. He is crouched on the flat dividers on South Broad Street. The first time I saw him, I watched him, tail down, head bent over, in the middle of the street. I paused and kept watching. He was taking pictures of the flowers in the cracks of the cement. At least, I think that's what he was doing... he had a camera. There were some "weeds" near him. He's been there, in different places along South Broad for several days.

He looked like he was completely in his own bubble. Like nothing else in the world mattered other than those little flowers in the cement. But he effected me. And I would hope that others noticed him and smiled, as well.

Thank you, man taking pictures of cement-crack-flowers in Center City.

Marcie, Amy, and I sat outside of the studio and talked about education and the transformative power of dance. I feel like I've been fighting a losing battle trying to make the case for dance education and dance practice. Marcie said, "We can talk to each other about how wonderful this is, but it's really hard to talk to the people who are different than us and don't understand everything we do and why we do it. And they're the people who probably really need to hear it."

So, professional business woman in your business suit and corner office and consulting firm, talking to me like I don't know what I'm doing, I'm going to keep trying. I hope that your son or daughter gets to take dance classes and you have to sew pointe shoes and costumes and share in the joy, excitement, and anticipation of performance. I hope that you get to go to a wedding or family celebration and dance and laugh and engage in the power of community. I hope that you can find the connection between your brain, your body, your heart, and your spirit. And I will continue my practice of showing up to the studio and sending my energy out into the world. I will keep telling you that dance classes are important for more reasons than fulfilling a childhood dream of being a ballerina.