Shimmy Mob

The blog continues to suffer, and I must admit that after blogging for over nine years, I've had thoughts of packing the whole thing in.  Between Ravelry, Facebook and Twitter, there seems to be less purpose to blogging for me these days.  I have however been inspired lately by Chrissy and her Yarn Sprout blog the last little while.  I feel like she and I are kindred spirits in some ways, since she and I both embarked upon some fairly significant lifestyle changes at around the same time, and as a result, have both embraced new passions in each of our lives.  Today she finished her first half marathon, and I loved reading her blog recap of this great accomplishment.  And it got me thinking, maybe I should blog more about my new passions.

My event today was no where near as impressive as a half marathon, but it did represent something that I would NEVER have done a couple years ago.  For the third time, I was part of a bellydance performance as my local group participated in the international Shimmy Mob.  There's a great article about the Shimmy Mob here, so I won't bother totally repeating what has already been written, but basically, it was a flash mob type thing that raised money for Women's Charities.  Money raised by my group will be donated to our local Transition House.  Bellydancers from all over the world danced the same choreograph.  The choreograph for me is as sense of accomplishment in itself.  We were all given the same link to youtube that would help us learn the dance.  The first time I viewed it, I wondered what on earth I had gotten myself in to, as it seemed (and truthfully, still is) way above my skill level.  Thanks however to lots of practice and my wonderful teacher Tricia, I did it.  Far from perfect, but still. 

I first started taking bellydance lessons in September 2009, inspired by some local bellydancing friends that include Shannon from Half Soled Boots.  Bellydance totally puts me in my happy place, I leave class feeling relaxed and with a smile on my face.  And the best part?  Along the way I've made awesome new friends.

I'll leave you with a few pictures from today.  Here's our little group before the performance:

And an action shot:

(I'm in the back left with my arm across my face)

Next significant event for me is in just under two weeks, involves zumba and more stepping outside of the box for me.  If you follow my on Facebook or Twitter, you will know exactly what I'm talking about.  I definitely plan to blog this experience.  In the meantime, I just may be back with some knitting content, I actually have a couple finished items to show you!

Comments

[Lisa]

Yay Brenda! Good for you brave soul!

Looks like you are all having a BALL!

[melissa]

yay for you brenda!
i say blog your passions, what ever they are!