“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain!” ~ Vivian Greene
Upon my decision to drop out of NYU, all hell broke loose. At least, that’s what it seemed like to me at the time. As previously stated in the last F.R.E.E. L.Y.F.E. C.H.R.O.N.I.C.L.E.S. article, “A.W.A.R.E.,” nearly no one ever imagined that I would in fact drop out of school. As a result, criticism and condemnation that I had never before experienced came to me from all different directions. It seemed like even the bag boy at the grocery store was hatin’! This may be an exaggeration, but the intensity of the dense, draining, self-defeating emotions that I felt still took quite the toll on me. I did, however, have a way to manage these undesired feelings from getting too deep within me. I managed through Dance.
By channeling & transmuting emotional energy into artistic creations, we are able to heal ourselves to a profoundly greater extent than had we simply experienced hardship and idly moved on with life. It is through directly & honestly facing our darkness, our reoccurring unwanted thoughts, and the depth of our feelings that we are able to begin to truly move past them. Ignored physical/emotional/mental/and spiritual issues will only persist by submerging into the subconscious mind and manifesting in new different ways over time if not directly dealt with. They say, however, that time heals all wounds. Perhaps I am too young in this life to truly understand the value of that statement, but why not deal & heal internal issues consciously & deliberately rather than passively hoping that it will all fix itself in time? The perspective that I present is certainly not my end all be all stance on the topic of self-healing, since every situation is unique. I have found, however, that cathartically creating allows for expedited healing. Whether the medium be through dance, painting, singing/song writing, sculpting, poetry,etc., simply the act of releasing our built up emotional energy into something (not someone), in a productive uplifting manner, can lead to greater degrees of inner peace, inspiring self-satisfaction, and even grand gratitude.
Through this dropout shock experience and other emotionally challenging situations that I’ve faced, I have learned to cultivate great degrees of gratitude for all my experiences by looking back retroactively with an open mind. All of my experiences that I originally did not appreciate gifted me so much that I was fully unaware of at the time. Some of these gifts include: empathy for others living through similar situations, true life material with which I’ve created some of my favorite works of art all time, lessons in Love & Fear, and essentially many more life lessons that I can now apply to my experience to further empower myself. As the saying goes “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” but having gratitude for these nonlethal experiences can assist one in not feeling as jaded, spiteful, and resentful. All it takes is a shift in perspective in order to see the beauty in every disaster, the victory in every failure, and the beginning in every end. I have come to realize and fundamentally believe that life only gives gifts & lessons, which are in fact gifts. It is through analyzing different life experiences retroactively and finding the hidden blessings in every disappointment that I have learned to L.E.T. G.O., Love Everything That Gets Oppressive.
XYZOSPHERE 