Climbing Out of the Trenches

Hey guys! Happy Saturday! Hope you all are doing well. I just finished acupuncture treatment and am headed back home. Just thought I’d give y’all a happy life update while I’m sitting in this uber!

As some of you may know, this transition into post-grad life has been challenging, to say the least. Most of my friends are still in LA, and I’ve never felt so lonely in my life. The sluggish pace of the Bay Area is completely different from the vibrant energy of Los Angeles. Some see it as tranquil—I, on the other hand, find the Bay Area boring beyond imagine. I miss the complete freedom I had in college. I miss the structure that student-life brought me. I miss the commercial dance scene of LA. I miss my old job at the skating rink. I just miss… everything about my old life in LA (except the traffic, paying rent, and living with roommates).

It’s been a month-and-a-half since I moved back to the Bay. The first month was complete misery. I had many goals for my gap year but found myself devoid of motivation to tackle them. I was burned out from school—graduating in three years takes a lot out of you! The process of uprooting my life in LA and moving back to my childhood home was mentally and emotionally difficult. Getting back into dancing was challenging as well. I took a long hiatus from competitive ballroom dance to focus on school. As a result, my technique regressed drastically, and I gained a lot of weight from lack of physical activity. I remember feeling so scared the first day I returned to the dance studio. I worried about others judging me and comparing the current-me to my past self.

Last week, something in me changed. For one, I attended a local ballroom dance competition—Autumn Dance Classic—and was inspired by one of my favorite amateur Latin couples who competed. Watching them dance was enough to rekindle my love and appreciation for ballroom dance. The flame grew as I took more dance lessons that week. On Tuesday night, I took a group class that focused on technique. I don’t remember the last time I sweated that much! I was physically exhausted, but for the first time in ages, I felt like my old self again. I loved being pushed to the mental and physical breaking point during that group class. As I danced, I realized that my technique did not regress as far as I had imagined, which gave me hope.

Dance is helping me regain my structure and discipline. I have goals to work towards and love the feeling of getting addicted to improvement. I find myself waking up each morning excited to dance!

Needless to say, I’m in a much, much better place than I was a few weeks ago. Work has been going well. I am helping two kids with their college applications and am tutoring three others in middle school/high school English. I also work as an assistant for an SAT English tutoring company. I find fulfillment in helping high school students improve their SAT critical reading test scores, so they have a better shot at getting into top schools.

I’m also starting my own business as a distributor for a health and fitness company! The job allows me to work from home on my own schedule. I basically advertise and sell products using social media! It’s been a great learning experience and an easy way to earn extra money to pay for those expensive dance lessons!

Well, this uber ride is about to end, so I must go now! Thanks to my loyal readers, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to read my blog!

 

Much love,

Belicia