Disclaimer: So while it may not officially be the hobby of the week, it definitely was a Hobby Hoarder thing to do. Normally, when I am itching for a change, I buy a plane ticket and country or state hop soon after. With a full-time job, this time around, I had to choose something more quick and more accessible. Dying my hair felt like the right choice. Guess I’ll really find out if blondes have more fun. Stay tuned for another hobby later this week. But for now: Enjoy.
Every time I try a new physical activity, I wonder how I was ever a Division 1 Varsity athlete. Between my lack of strength, my inability to follow choreographed dance steps, and my flexibility deficiency, one would think I never played sports in my life–let alone went to college for them.
As a young girl, I took ballet, but never danced my way into any other classes. I left the studio to play baseball with the boys. Over time, I continued to add more and more sports to my list including soccer, basketball, tennis, softball, and field hockey. How I even survived playing sports astounds me. Sophomore year of high school I broke both hands (not at the same time) during my spring softball season, and during field hockey camp right before college I went flying through a goal cage head first. So it doesn’t surprise me that last night I had trouble figuring out how to put my right foot over my left foot and vis versa.
As I looked at the other women in the class, I noted that I was clearly the outcast in my athletic shorts and t–while they sported leotards. Note: Add leotard to the budget. I sweated profusely through the stretching and core work, struggled through the early warm-up dance moves (in which I moved so slowly, I could be called a geriatric patient) and thought to myself–don’t leave–don’t leave: This isn’t like zumba where there’s fifty other people to hide behind. You gotta commit to this Libs…COMMIT!
And so I did.
And not before long, I was gathering the steps, following Joi, our instructor, and moving–semi-smoothly across the floor. Shaking my booty, and getting all groovy–all while singing the Will Smith tune in my head with my own words:
“Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na Getting Jazzzzzzzy with it.”
By the end, I told the girls that I was just hustling them–and that I was truly a professional 😉
Gosh–I just wanted to be sexy damnitt. I wanted to feel like I could sport a bikini, whip my hair back and forth, walk down a runway with an apple balanced on my head. I wanted to channel my inner Monroe–my deep dark Hepburn. (Excerpt from upcoming essay).
This video, Orbit, was posted on my instructor’s Facebook just two days before I took her class. It stars the Body and Pole instructors, and it is a collaborative project between Kareem Black, Sophy Holland, Sean Freeman, and Thomas Niles. The video is wonderful:
The Hobby Hoarder 