Priorities

Before I had kids, and occasionally in between having kids, I studied, performed and taught Raqs as-Sharqi...a.k.a. bellydance. It's a lot of fun and a great workout. In fact, it's really the only athletic pursuit I've ever stuck with for any length of time. Over the years it has also led me to explore a lot of other interesting things like henna art, drumming and two semesters of Arabic language study. Performing at restaurants, private parties, wedding receptions and other venues has given me the opportunity to work with and get to know the local Middle Eastern communities, which has been a great cultural education and further solidified my long-held conviction that under the thin outer layer of local custom and cultural protocol, people are all pretty much the same everywhere.

Anyway, I'm posting about this today to motivate myself to get my bootie out of the house so I can go shake it at dance class this afternoon. My friend Tina Enheduanna teaches in Laguna Hills on Sunday afternoons and one of my New Year's resolutions was to go take her class as often as possible. I was originally picturing "as often as possible" meaning every week. So far I've made it to three classes since 2010 began, which averages out to about every other week, which is still pretty good. I'd like to work my way up to every week but things keep coming up, like my house needing to be cleaned, being exhausted, some or all of my household being under the weather, events we want to take the kids to at the same time, etc., etc.

Once upon a time, I would have made it to dance class, troupe rehearsal or the dance workshop of the week come hell or high water. Most of my social circle was connected to the local dance community. Now my ability & willingness to go to class is conditional on not being needed at home, and I have lost touch with a lot of the lovely ladies with whom I used to dance. I miss them. A lot. And I miss dancing. And being in shape.

I know (or at least I hope) every parent goes through the same radical shift in perspective when their kids are born, but it still amazes me how complete the change in priorities can be. Being completely depended on by someone else for survival, it's easy to shove everything else to the back burner. As a species, we're adapted (or designed, if you prefer) to do this when necessary. Obviously it has worked out really well for us, seeing as we are the dominant species on the planet and everything. Fortunately, we're also a highly social species, which means that mommies don't have to do EVERYTHING for EVERYBODY ALL the time because other people can help. And it also means we need friends, like the ones I'm going to hang out with this afternoon at dance class.

So I guess my priorities for today are clear.

BTW, if you are in the South OC and are interested in bellydance classes, Tina is awesome. Check out her website. For those of you in the Costa Mesa/Newport area, check out Lilla Varese, another good friend and excellent dance teacher.