My Life in Tupperware Bins: May 2014

Friday, May 16, 2014

Zumba: Some one's gotta lead

I love Zumba. When I was in the middle of my big weight loss, I started doing Zumba at the local gym. Over the years, I have taken Zumba from all kinds of instructors. From the 60-year-old hippie who patiently instructed tentative dancers to just keep moving to the hoochie-cutter-yoga-body-dancer Brazilian model in California who flaunts as much as teaches. But regardless of teaching style, there is always a teacher. How else could you get 20 random women from all walks of life and ranges of stages of fitness to move to the rhythm of the heart and not run into each other? PS The following is pretty much how reality works:

Anyway, back to my thought. So the other night I was in a Zumba class at my local gym when said Brazilian-those-boobs-could-not-be-real-in-a-sports-bra instructor suddenly leapt off the stage and yelled for someone to take over, shouting something about too much café and not enough food. Stunned, as the thunderous pulse of a salsa blared out of the speakers, the whole class just started at each other, the swirling disco lights making even more confusion in the room. Take over? Who would take over? Some women started making up their own moves, others trying to copy but failing miserably. Other women just completely stopped moving and stared at the door, as if they couldn't move at all without a step-by-step. A few others looked as if they were trying to remember the routine, but after a minute or two just kept repeating the same 3 moves. It was not pretty.

And then it hit me. This is exactly how my life feels right now. For me, the instructor represents a goal or focus in my life. There were the college years when the goal was a degree and the steps were classes, study groups, tests, and homework. There were the work years where the goal was learning my field, growing in my clinical skills, and learning how to live the life of a responsible adult. Next came the goal of living a mission-minded lifestyle, with steps of growing a community and a church, and discovering who I am and what I bring to the world. There was a brief water break before I moved out to LA where the goal became reintegrating into the North American dance. But I found I no longer knew the steps as well as I did before. They seemed foreign. I had changed. My muscles changed. My taste in music and rhythm and movement had changed. It was like the "goal" instructor of my life took a break and left me to figure it out for myself. And I think I have discovered I like not following the goals of others; I don't need to follow the steps of everyone else around me.

SOOOOOOOO, here's the big update. I have decided to put the 9-5 job on hold. Again. (Although I am staying on-call at the hospital). And do what I've always known I should do: missions and ministry and a bunch of other dabblings. I am going back to Costa Rica for a few weeks in June. Not permanently, but for a much needed trip. I am going to stay in LA for now. It feels the most comfortable. I am going to write my long-awaited cook book. I will continue making and selling art. I would love to teach art and sewing and woman skills-type classes. And finally, I am educating the masses on natural health and nutrition, both through my 100 pound weight loss story and through the benefits of essential oils. I have discovered the health and wellness benefits of DoTerra essential oils and am THRILLED to share them with anyone who is willing to listen :)

So if you would like any of my art (featured below). Or if you would like to have me come host a class for you (you pick the topic! Art, sewing, essential oils, weight loss), let me know :) My woman skills are now available for rent.