Ever walk into a room and feel your shoulders curl up a little from all the tension? Ever talk to someone and just want to shake and tell them to relax? I'm not normally like this, but holy cats am I ever sick of people who take themselves too seriously. You're not Oprah, take a chill pill and laugh a little bit.
I just got home from a dance audition for our school's production of Fame. I'm not a dancer by any standard, but I'm a singer and an actor, and I'm desperately hoping for Carmen (after that audition though, it might be a pretty long shot). I've been spending the week patting down my emotions and settling the butterflies, trying not to get my hopes up for this part, but some of these girls.... My goodness, just calm down a little. Some of them are so high strung that they forget to smile, and when they do smile, it's so forced that it looks like something out of a horror movie. Is it really that horrible to remove a little makeup and relax your face long enough to genuinely smile at someone? It costs you nothing, and it may make someone's day.
Joe and I spent the audition laughing at our horrible improv dance moves and sweating buckets, but basically maintained a smile most of the time. May I just say that you could be the most incredible dancer in the entire world, but if you don't smile, I don't care. I'm sorry, but having "the whole package" (singing, dancing, acting, looks) isn't the whole package unless you have the personality to match it.
As i've mentioned before, I grew up a little bit in the dance community. Not that I could dance, but my brother could. I remember thinking exactly the same thing about those girls then, and it hasn't changed.
In grade 10 math, I met this girl named Kristen. When I found out Kristen was a dancer, I was a little surprised. She was nice, and not just nice, but nice to me. She was a little crazy, but in an amazing, fun kind of way. She has what I would call a magnetic personality. Her energy is so invigorating, and energizing and fresh that you just want to be around her. I'm still friends with Kristen, and i love her to death, and I wish her all the best with her Fame auditon (which she rocked, by the way).
She's very, very different from a lot of the girls i've met through dance. don't get me wrong, some of them are just as wonderful as Kristen, but some of them... If given the opportunity, I would want to pick them up and throw them in to a big bubble bath surrounded by aroma therapy candles... Anything to calm them down.
And its not just dancers by any stretch of the imagination. Its people in general. There's nothing wrong with making a mistake, or taking a night off, or smiling at a stranger, or just being calm. You don't need to be moving and running and being successful 24 hours a day; that's a recipe for a burnout, and real quick. I've met people who are like this about school, music, dance, sports.. The list goes on and on. And to all of you who are like this, so up tight that at any given moment of the day, your entire body is clenched, I have a message for you: just relax!
My mom used to say you can roll through life like a stone, or you can clunk through life like a two by four. So roll, folks! Just roll!
Blessings,
Maddi.
No comments:
Post a Comment