October 15, 2009

What moves me.



I n s p i r a t i o n shall be the name of the game this week.



I feel like I'm so easily inspired. I feel like I can get a great idea from the slightest thing. & I am darn happy about it. Over the past 2 years or so, I have really relied on YouTube. What for? To draw inspiration of course.

When I longed to go back to skating about three years ago, I felt so lost. Here I was, after a seven year break of perhaps stepping on the ice just a few times, wanting to go back to do what the big dogs of skating do. The first time going back on the ice was so shaky. I had to learn how to glide correctly again and relearn the easiest of jumps. I could not even do a backspin. I was disappointed. I was officially a "washed up" skater, as my mom would call them.

I turned to YouTube. Here I would type in skaters I had admired for the years I had not been skating. I had never been a Michelle Kwan fan, she was too safe, and although she held consistency in her power, I didn't enjoy her skating overall. The name found in the YouTube search box would always be that of Sasha Cohen. The fierce, flexible, skater who was all over the board when it came to jumps, but when she was on she was ON. Her style is to be admired. Her skating literally has INSPIRED me to be better and work harder. After watching clip after clip and program after program, I feel like some of her power can be found in my skating. Although you will not find the technicality in my possession. Sometimes I like to think form, expression, speed, and grace override the ability to do jumps. I am forever grateful for YouTube.

I could not be more excited that she is going for the 2010 games. I want her to get a gold medal.

After I started skating and getting more and more into it again, the desire to do ballet starting tapping on my shoulder. This was a hoot. When I was a young girl, I HATED ballet. So boring. But it was the way they moved, the control they had over their bodies, ballerinas had the flexibility that I longed for.

I was never flexible, but always thought it to be a cool ability. After watching rhythmic gymnastics and ballet on YouTube, I was able to see form and flexibility at it's finest and it did nothing else but inspire me to be better. I feel like I am one of those people (like most others I'm sure) that if I watch something enough I can do it myself. I stretched 2 times a day, starting practicing the ballet that I would see in the videos and pushed myself to get better. I would watch these videos of both ballet and skating over and over until I was able to perhaps transcend what they were doing onto the ice or behind the ballet bar. It seems lame, but it has worked for me.

Two sports I thought I would never touch again have grown to be some of my biggest passions in life. Although, most times I feel like I am WAY too late to pursue anything with these sports. But I lately have been feeling like my desires to succeed an perhaps override my age blunder. A 21 year old ballerina just learning the real tricks of the trade? Sure! Why not. I perhaps should learn not to harbor so much pessimism in the sports, yes THE SPORTS, that I LOVE. After all, IDID get a fortune in a cookie the other day that said "Participation in sports may lead you to a lucrative career". I shall take that as a good sign.

Some videos that helped me get to where I am today. Enjoy!

FIGURE SKATING:

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqvkip9S1VA -yeah, it's a guy, but his skating is amazing.
5) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh3iW4I39DI -although not consistent, a beautiful, emotional program.

BALLET/RHYTHMIC



Its a bit of a link overload, but hopefully you checked out atleast one from each group. They are all amazing dancers, gymnasts, and skaters.

Where do YOU get YOUR inspiration?!
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October 5, 2009

challengers.

After another great weekend comes one productive Monday.
A good way to spend the fifth day of October;

-Classes (Geography, Math, History, Ethics) 9-1.
-Stopped at the grocery store to pick up items for my mother
-Came home and conquered some math homework
-Did a load of laundry

-Transfered my bath products to my newly redone bathroom. For years and years I have always showered in the downstairs main bathroom. Growing up, my two older brothers shared the upstairs one while my parents have one in the master. An even distribution that I got used to for 18 years of my life or since I have been showering on my own. Even for years after my brothers moved out I didn't find the upstairs bathroom appealing (It had been run down with teenage boys for quite awhile.) Thanks, but no thanks. Recently my parents stripped the awful wallpaper that was in there and gave it a nice light face lift. Ah! Appeal in the upstairs bathroom! Who would have thunk it! It was nice to get all settled in.

-Cleaned out my room. I get in patterns where I clean my room and love it and try my best to keep it up. After a few months, it starts to slowly get more cluttered and messy. Each time I vow to keep it up. It gets hard, especially when I'm not here on weekends anymore and here for substantial time only two days a week. I must have gotten the vibes from my mom who cleaned and re-organized the house yesterday. She cleaned out all her old workout clothes (really nice workout clothes!) and I inherited them. This will be perfect because Eric just added me on his membership at Lifetime so they will be put to good use. I cleaned out my closet, drawers (to make room for all those new sweat soaking ensembles), my desk, and bookshelf. The room has a new organized appeal to it & I'm happy with that.

So today I was watching, as usual, The Weather Channel, and there is a documentary featured often called "It could happen tomorrow." This program pinpoints different areas in the U.S. and pairs it with a disaster that is most likely to hit that area due to research or simply just because it's been so long since it has last happened. Examples have included: what would happen if a huge hurricane hit New Orleans (this aired two years before Katrina hit), A Tampa hurricane that would wipe the town out as well as a Hilton Head hurricane that would do the same thing, a huge earthquake through Memphis, and the eruption of Mt St. Helen's in Washington. The thing that shocks me the most is that they tell you what will happen, how it's going to happen, and features the destruction that would likely be probable and these predicted things DO happen and do exactly as predicted, yet it prevents no one from leaving and it beings no new ideas to the table of what to do to prepare for potential disaster. Of course, you can never stop a natural disaster from happening, but you can stop some of the damage that occurs. It's just bewildering to me how accurate they are.

So this weekend, starting on Thursday I got this song/melody in my head. I only knew one part of the song but didn't know lyrics, just the tune. It was driving me crazy, I had no idea where I heard it except that I DID hear it more than once. I figured it was something new Eric had given me or something we heard on one of our playlists. After telling him this, relaying the melody, and telling him who I thought it could be, we went through some songs and thought of who the artist could be. After a weekend of curiosity, he figured out the song! He sent me it last night and I am so relieved! Here it is! I love it!

Ahead for the week is the usual showdown. Skating and work tomorrow and Thursday, classes and ballet on Wednesday, and Friday is filled with classes, followed by work, and a great weekend! Eric's cousin and her husband are coming up and hopefully we'll get some fun things in! Have a great week! Enjoy yourselves!

-Tessabee
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