From looking at the fact that my last post was in 2020, I guess I wasn't ready to get back to the blog then. I'm hoping I'm right when I say that I feel like I might be ready now.
What's happened since I last wrote? Let's see, well, we were all in quarantine during the pandemic. Our former president irresponsibly created a run on Hydroxychloroquine, the one drug all us Lupies use to survive day to day. That was a freakin' nightmare.
Personally, I was lucky enough to be able to teach from home and as things started to open up, I started officiating micro-weddings. My husband got a job at FedEx. So, we were fortunate enough to be ok enough.
I have gained about 50 pounds and haven't truly gone back to my autoimmune protocol style of eating. I was working so hard on growing my wedding officiant business that I felt I didn't really have the bandwidth to focus on the diet.
However, now that the pandemic seems to be winding down, I'm beginning to get approached to do dance work again, so I want to start working on my health again.
I've started going back to the gym to do my treadmill walking or biking. Last night I went to take a Flamenco class rather than teach one. This class is what inspired me to get back on the blog.
You see, I've been teaching all along, and although teaching is hard on me, it's not as hard on me as taking an advanced/professional level Flamenco class taught by someone who is known for rhythmic heelwork. I loved every second of it, but I was in serious pain during the first 30 minutes.
30 minutes of straight heelwork. You can only imagine the pain shooting up my legs and into my lower back. I was trying very hard to keep going and not use my cane, which I had walked into the studio with. After all, I was wearing my "Flamenco Queen" t-shirt. It seems I felt I had something to prove.
I could also tell that between the pandemic and the Lupus diagnosis, I hadn't been on the Flamenco scene in a while. I knew no one in that class when I first arrived and nobody knew who I was. It was great when two of my old friends walked in later, saw me, and came over to give me a hug. See, I am someone.
It was even better when this very demanding teacher walked in front of me, doing my heelwork with my cane in hand, and shook both his fists and said, "YES!" to me. I suddenly felt like this was going to be ok.
Everyone knows I've been declining in my health and ability because I've been writing and posting about it. However, I had done the one thing that made it not so real. Except for a handful of people, no one in our Flamenco world has seen me in awhile, with the cane in tow. I haven't experienced what it's like to be the dancer who shows up with a cane. Until yesterday.
And you know, it really was ok. No one pointed it out. No one brought it up. I'm sure that those who don't know me probably assumed I was injured. Those who do know me, were happy to see me and I them.
I'm now inspired to get focused on my nutrition again and to treat this class I'm taking with curiosity--to see if I can build up my leg stamina again.
I'm even getting back into the gig rotation. The good thing there is I'm in charge of my dancing, so I don't have to kill myself to do intense feet as long as I dance with intense emotion.
So here we go. I had a teacher once who told someone, "Flamenco is like a fine wine. It gets better with age." I've definitely had a ton of life experience in the last few years. I'm ready to see how well I'm maturing.
Have you had to change your approach to something you've been doing a long time? If so, please share in the comments below. I'd love to hear about it.
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