When it comes to rough years, 2017 was one of the roughest for me. For much of that year, I kept getting hit with one thing after another, and it seemed as if each positive event was followed shortly thereafter by a negative event. It soon became hard for me to enjoy positive events because I was always expecting a negative event to come afterward; that mindset likely caused more negativity in my life than most of the negative events that actually happened that year. Changing that mindset was vital if I wanted to make any progress in life. Little did I know that change was right around the corner.
Shortly after July 4th, my friend Amy Lane invited me to go out swing dancing. The extent of my formal dance experience at that point consisted of a few months of practice in 2014 and two brief evenings in the spring of 2017. However, since I enjoyed the little dancing I had done, I decided to take her up on the invitation. I set out on a Sunday evening for the Volstead, which is a bar styled as an old-time speakeasy. The place was disguised quite well and I walked past it several times without even realizing it since the front looks like an old post office. When I realized I was at the right place, I went in and sat down until the beginner lesson started. I was quite rusty but my previous experience definitely helped. After the lesson, I stayed around for the open dance portion and had a lot of fun.
Once I started dancing regularly, I began to notice some changes in my life. If I had a rough day at work, I could look forward to dancing my troubles away for a few hours. The friends I met gave me endless opportunities to talk about positive things instead of whatever problems were going in in my life or elsewhere. And seeing myself improve at a physical skill was a great source of motivation to continue. Slowly but surely, my mindset became more positive and I found my life situation followed suit.
Ever since that first night, I’ve gone to dance at the Volstead every Sunday that I can, and I also regularly dance at Club Savoy on Thursdays and the Hyperion Brewing Company on Wednesdays. I went to a major dance event back in March and I’m going to another one in September; I plan to attend many more events, both big and small, in the years to come. Swing dancing came into my life right when I needed it and I’m so thankful for everything it’s given me.