Living Full Out!

As dancers (or in any art form, really), we often face routine, monotony, and the endless cycle of repetition that can turn our passion into a 24/7 grind. And when that happens, we sometimes lose the spark—the very thing that drives those who love what they do. Instead of dancing at our full capacity, we start "marking" moves, giving maybe 30-50% of what we can. Familiar thoughts start creeping in: "What time is it?" "When’s lunch?" or, in my case, the classic “Is it done already?”

Yesterday, a friend from outside the arts said something that shook me, something that transformed that monotony back into motivation. He asked, "What if tomorrow never comes?" As a dancer, with a career often shortened by physical demands, we don't have forever to give it our all. Thinking about that made me wonder: if this were my last chance, would I regret every moment I didn’t give my best, every dance I didn’t perform with the freedom I dreamed of years ago?

Today, I chose to experience the sunset—to really see it. I stood alongside friends, many of them absorbed in other things, but I took in the colors, the air, the music of the show we’re rehearsing, and I realized why I became a dancer. Today, I danced for the right reasons. I felt alive. I remembered that my choice to dance was a choice to be free, to find myself in that untouchable space where I control my body and emotions. It’s now 11:40 p.m., and though it’s one less day, it feels like a day fully lived.

To everyone reading this, live your life full out! Whatever it is you do—dance, love, miss someone, cry, observe—use the routines and the mundane as inspiration to break free from them.

Wishing everyone a beautiful night and an extraordinary tomorrow.

— Diana