one step closer to running away with the circus

i am, by nature, a pretty goal-oriented person. if there is not something that i am working towards on the not-too-distant horizon, i start getting all sorts of antsy and find myself feeling un-centered and slightly frustrated. the goals don't always have to be life-altering or anything crazy, but i just find i'm able to keep my sense of peace and balance on track much better when there is something attainable that i am on the path towards. when i took my trapeze workshop last year, one of the tsny staff members did a performance at the student show on an aerial apparatus called the spanish web that i was literally so impressed with, that i vowed right then and there that i was going to learn how to do it, too. it took me a year to sign up for the aerial arts workshop (in my defense, i had a few other goals to knock out before tackling this one), and even though i had never so much as touched the spanish web before, i was intent on focusing on that for the performance (the workshop also gave me the chance to try out the lyra, the static trapeze, and doubles trapeze, but we could only select one apparatus to focus on for the student show). i basically had 5 weeks of classes just on the web, and at an hour a class, you can do the math on how much actual time i had to work on my routine.


as beautiful as it looks from the ground, the web is H-A-R-D. physically (at least for me) it was the most demanding of the other aerial skills in my workshop, but i had a goal, and no amount of forearm muscle exhaustion, rope burn, or fear of falling was going to stop me. at the performance last week, i actually was first up of the entire show - and between that and my family and friends sitting in the front row to support me, i really didn't even have the chance to get that nervous. i have so much fun up there that i remember wishing that my routine was longer just so that i didn't have to come down just yet. i don't often have too many moments where i think, you know, i am really proud of me - but this was definitely one of those times. it always feels good to do something that you set out to do, and to have such an amazing time working towards a goal was a really great experience. even though my workshop is over, i still want to take more web classes because there are so many more tricks and skills i want to learn. but in the meantime, i am lining up more things to knock out - rock climbing, another half marathon, some travel...and maybe a nap. maybe.