Life is Funny Like That

I find if funny that the same people who have insipred me to become the independent, free thinking, openminded individual I am today are the ones who question the way I have chosen to live my life...

But that's life and it goes on...

A Secular View on The Story of Jesus

A dance piece I am dancing in this semester at school, has been causing me some mental distress. The piece is about the story of Easter: the death and resurrection of Jesus. It's danced by 6 men, and the movement is full and beautiful; it's pleasant to the eye and leaves you with a warm feeling inside. However, I think I am going to have a harder time connecting to this piece than the other dancers (who I can almost guarantee are Christian.) To me this story is no different from any other fictional story. For all intents and purposes I could be reenacting The Jungle Book via dance and it would mean about as much to me (this is meant as factual not sacrilegious.) So here's my question: Is it possible for me to find some kind of spirituality in a Christian story that I think to be untrue, in order to better embody the character I am trying to be in this dance piece?

I'm not sure. It's hard for me to put faith in anything I can't see, touch, smell, feel or taste, and seeing as I haven't seen, touched, smelled, felt, or tasted the existence of an omnipotent and omnipresent god, I'm going to have to connect to this piece in a different way... I'm just not sure how yet...

To be honest I'm not sure what I was hoping to accomplish by making this post, I just thought it was something that I needed to get off my chest. :)

Gaga's Influence

I stumbled across this video of Lady Gaga speaking out against "don't ask don't tell," and thought it was something to share:

Lady Gaga is one of the few famous popstars in America to use her popstardom for the greater good. She is, in my opinion, one of the few (if not the only) artists in the mainstream music industry today and I appreciate that she speaks out OPENLY about things she does not agree with.

Many popstars just send a couple thousand dollars to a charity here or an organization there, but very few actually go out and use the fact that they're famous to influence culture and help make an important change in society! Is it not an artists job to influence and comment on culture? Of course some peoples opinions may vary, but I think it is! When we look at any group of people across the globe, their culture is defined by a wide array of variables such as: architecture, art, music, food, language, religion, etc. Those are the defining characteristics that create culture. Sadly, however, I feel that the film and music industry in America has lost many of it's artistic roots and have turned our culture into a group of thrill-seeking blood enthusiasts.

So thank you Lady Gaga for using you fame for something more than personal gratification. I appreciate what you are doing and that you are willing to dive in and get your hands dirty. Thank you for being a true artist and helping to shape our culture into something that is more than just superficial.

Madonna, Donald Trump, and Myself

I was casted in one of the grad pieces at school this semester. Part of her thesis is creating a piece based off of the Keirsey Temperament Sorter which breaks down your personality into 4 specific traits.

The traits are:

• Extroversion ----- Introversion
• Sensing ----- Intuiting
• Thinking ----- Feeling
• Judging ----- Perceiving

What she is doing in this piece is creating 4 sections that juxtapose the contrasting personality traits such as "Extrovert vs Introvert", "Sensor vs Intuitor", "Thinker vs Feeler", and lastly "Judger vs Perceiver." Very intriguing idea indeed; I'm in the "Thinker vs Feeler" section.

When I took the test, I wasn't very shocked by the traits that they associated with me: Extroversion, Sensing, Thinking, and Perceiving or ESTP. I quickly looked up my temperament on the Keirsey website to find that I am an Artisan Promoter. Here's a very interesting and accurate quote about my personality:

"Charming, confident, and popular, Promoters delight their friends and investors with their endless supply of stories and jokes. At the same time, these smooth operators are usually something of a mystery to others. While they live in the moment and lend excitement - and unpredictability - to all their relationships, they rarely let anyone get really close to them. They have a low tolerance for authority and commitment, and are likely to leave situations where they are expected to toe the mark, or where they must play second fiddle. Promoters understand well the maxim, "He who travels fastest, travels alone," although they are not likely to be lonely for long, since their boldness and sense of adventure tends to make them highly attractive to many other people." 

I feel like they paint me to be a jackass! But whatever, because Madonna and Donald Trump are both famous Artisan Promoters... I think I'll invite them over for tea!

Religious Freedom for Christians Only!

I just got done watching a interview with Bill Maher from The Tonight Show. I've never been a huge fan on Bill Maher (quite honestly I find him sanctimonious, obnoxious, and arrogant), but I have to commend him for having his head on straight. I really appreciate people who are able to separate their personal opinions and theological ideas from their stance in government and law.

Here is a quote from the video speaking about houses of worship (specifically the Mosque at ground zero):
".. we shouldn't build any of them, but people are still going to build houses of worship so they should be able to build them anywhere. There's this thing in this country called the first amendment, and if somebody ever read it to Sarah Palin she would understand you're supposed to be allowed to worship whatever fairytale you want to wherever you want to."



I feel like many atheists (including myself) share this same view on religion. People have the right to worship however and wherever they please no matter how nonsensical it seems to us. Many conservative Christians do not share this view, which is honestly a little scary... If we start depriving people of their freedom of religion, what's next? Not allowing two people who love each other to marry based on some religious idea of what marriage is? Oh wait...

To show a contrasting view here's a link to an ABC article showing Sarah Palin's own personal thoughts on the mosque... Doesn't that scream tolerance?  I love her for being such an open minded, tolerant, and supportive person! Those are positive qualities right?

The Reason Why

Why?

Why do you dance?
Why did you smoke that cigarette?
Why don't you believe in god?
Why do you waste time playing video games?
Why don't you do it like this?
Why are you gay?
Why do you wait until the last minute to do your homework?

I'm tired of getting asked "why," from all the critical people in my life. Maybe because it makes me happy, maybe because I'm ignorant, or maybe it's for no good reason at all... But that's what I want to do and that's enough for me.

What's in a Touch?

I laid down on the edge of the dance room waiting the ten short minutes between classes, positioned cleverly beneath the barre in a corner in hopes to avoid social interaction. It had been a rough day already and as I mentally examined the tasks ahead of me, I was aware it wouldn't get much easier. I breathed deeply trying to relieve some of the doubt that floated in my mind as dancers wandered in and out of the dance room chatting about this and that. "I need a cigarette," one voice said. "I need a cocktail!" another echoed. It seemed everyone was feeling the weight of the day but I seemed to be the only one who couldn't bear it.

More dancers wandered in complaining about sore muscles and aching backs ignoring me all together which was exactly what I wanted. I listened to the footsteps that could be heard all around creating their own percussive rhythm that had no pattern or reason. I took a few more deep breathes and began to find musical harmony between breath and footstep. The breath providing the melody and the footstep the beat that drives our human musical masterpiece forward.

I readjusted my body as I heard the consistent beat of one set of footsteps walk in my direction. My forearm was now resting on my forehead so that my eyes were free to see which musician decided to disturb my private aria. I shifted my eyes slightly to the right to observe Ashley walking in my direction and quickly closed them in an attempt to hide so that she would not try to engage me in conversation. The footsteps came to a stop two feet from my private corner. I didn't open my eyes... I didn't want to. I just wanted to enjoy the last three minutes of my short break to myself until it was time to play "ballet dancer."

I began to focus on my breath again, but I found it impossible with this person hovering over me. I took two deep breathes and opened my eyes, knowing I should acknowledge her presence, even though it was MY corner. As our eyes met she smiled. She bent down to a level equal to mine and awkwardly grabbed my hand from the side giving it a little squeeze as if to say "I'm here and I understand." I glanced at her hand, then back at her face as I felt the doubt begin to slip from my mind. Then, just as quickly as she had appeared, she disappeared back into the sea of footsteps across the room leaving me alone in my corner with a slightly more positive outlook on my day.

What's in a touch that makes it so special? I think it's the reassurance that we're all here, we're all human, and no matter what happens we're all in life together.