Before You Knew You Couldn't

Before you knew you couldn't. 

I was around ten years old when my neighborhood friends and I decided to put on a ballet recital. We choreographed dances, created costumes, and advertised our show to the neighborhood. Our stage was my backyard patio, and a great time was had by all.   

Now the curious thing was, that I had never taken a dance lesson in my life, let alone a ballet lesson. Oh, I had jumped and twirled around my living room floor to Herb  Albert and the Tijuana Brass for hours, but did this really qualify me as a ballet dancer? 

Someone in our group had taught us the five basic ballet positions, and between swimsuits and old ballet costumes we looked the part. Although, I was a complete novice my bossy first-born self had taken a leadership role in our production.  Oh, how I wish that spunky girl had hung around in adolescence. What she knew then was that you didn't have to hold back just because you weren't an expert at something. 

You could join in the fun, and not worry about mistakes and judgement. What I do know, is that experience led to me taking tap lessons at the local dance studio. Each week I would ride my bike there and tap my heart out. The culminating event was a real recital, on a real stage,  wearing a real costume. 

I'm glad I didn't miss out on such a fun experience because I didn't know how.