"It takes courage..."

"Ya know... it takes courage to do what you know is going to be good for you."

On this particular morning, the weather was uncomfortable. It was a holiday week - one of those where the holiday is in the middle of the week so, it's a little awkward to celebrate. This student had not been feeling well, but came to class, anyway.

"It takes courage to do what you know is going to be good..."

I've been thinking about this a lot over the past few weeks. What is going to be good... for me? for my family? for my art? for my body? for my community?

As in dance, as in life.

My student was talking about coming to dance class. For some people who come to my class at the Rehab Center (and I'm sure for some people who don't come to my class...) it's a challenge to get out of bed, to travel, to come to class. It takes courage to complete complex challenges, but it also takes courage to be mindful and aware of seemingly simple challenges and work through them.

It takes courage to see and move with other people who might be different - even if they, too, are facing challenges, some visible, some invisible.

It takes courage to be present in a body that might not feel perfect - due to illness, injury, abuse, depression, frustration, self-perception, or any number of other reasons.

It takes courage to physically and mentally move through these obstacles to find (and admit) to the joy of dancing.

It takes courage to surrender to the vulnerability of making mistakes and learning from them. It takes courage to own these moments instead of shy away from a new step or creative goal.

It takes courage to trust that the class is a community embarking on a shared journey, if only for that brief time.

It takes courage to dance.

It takes courage to do what you know is going to be good for you.