DREAMS

When I was little, I fell in love with dance. I dreamed and plotted how I would become one of those amazing graceful creatures. I lived in a world so incredibly opposite of that dream, its realization was almost impossible.

I was already too old for classical training as a ballerina, but that didn’t stop me. I begged my parents to let me attend a Park & Recreation ballet class. They said yes!

I walked to that class every Saturday for a year. I loved the sensation of freedom. I flew through the air moving my body in ways I didn’t know were possible. It was embarrassing sometimes because I was the only girl my age in the class. The median age was 6. I was a whopping 11 years old! That didn’t discourage me though; something strong had taken hold of me and wouldn’t be shaken. The feeling of flying was in my soul.

After scouring the library for books on ballet, I decided the place I needed to be was London! So I began making plans to move my entire family, and train with the Royal Ballet. I knew it was only a pretend dream. But I dreamed it nonetheless.

Then something terrible happened: we moved. We moved away from that wonderful little park class and I had no way to get there. I begged my mother to please drive me. I told her that it was important to my future, that it was my dream!

I think it was the dream part that caught her attention. Little by little my mother began to see that maybe this dream wasn’t so crazy. She helped me find a local ballet school where I could attend one class a week. Unfortunately, our financial situation never allowed for more than one class, and to become a classically trained dancer, you have to train many long hard hours. So my dream began to fade into the distance.

But that is not the end of the story…

I loved dance so much that I began to seek out other forms in high school. I took jazz and modern class and soon I excelled enough to compete. I competed throughout high school, dedicated to the dream in my heart. Even though it wasn’t the ballet that I had loved, it still made me feel that sensation of freedom and flying.

My senior year I began applying for colleges; which in itself was a miracle! It would be the first time anyone in my immediate family had applied for college directly out of high school. The college I wanted to attend had one of the top rated dance programs in the country. I applied but thought my chances were very slim. During the end of the last dance performance of my senior year, my mother walked into the auditorium. She had told me she wouldn’t be able to attend the performance, so I was surprised to see her.

I ran up to her after the performance and asked her why she had come. She stared into my eyes for a moment and then handed me a white envelope. It was stamped with the letterhead of the college I had hoped to attend. My heart seemed to stop and I felt sick. I said, “Just tell me. What did they say?” She refused and said, “Read it for your self.” I tore into it and there it was: my acceptance letter and a financial grant to help defray some of my college costs.

I couldn’t believe it! I cried happy tears for a long time. My dream was finally coming true!

Now underneath this story is a current of strength, power and miracles. But it wasn’t me. I just had the dream and desire. I believe it was our Heavenly Father who guided each step and heard every prayer and opened every door. He took a dream and made it a reality. Many would say that it was just my perseverance, but I know that’s not true. I believe this is the path He wanted for me. I am an introvert at heart and this was a very extroverted dream! Sometimes I would even ask myself, “What are you doing? But the desire in my heart cried out to dance.

He has continued to use dance in my life, and not just for me, but for the other people He’s touched when I’ve performed.

What I realize now is that every time I took the stage and I said the prayer, “Help me glorify you, Father, in the dance,” that feeling of freedom and flying was coming from Him. He had created me for this. And in my spirit, I was dancing in The Great Performance Hall of the KING!

All photos pictured are from Vintage Victoria Magazine