Priorities, Hippies and Dreams

Two posts in one day! I'm rolling again.

I just realized that my travel schedule poses a problem for a greater joy I have happened upon for the spring. My cousins and I are taking a belly dancing class on Monday nights. (I'll show that freak of a waiter at the Moroccan restaurant!!) So, now I'm really considering trying to get out of the Miami conference (since it'll mean me missing 2 classes in a row.) This brings me back to a familiar theme with me, priorities.

I think we spend too little effort carving out time in our schedules for the things that truly bring us joy. I love dancing. When I think about it, I think I went out dancing 3 times last week. I haven't done that in years and I miss it. There are so many great places to dance in DC for cheap or for free and I really don't make enough time for it. Now, of course when I refer to dancing, I'm generally referring to latin dance, namely (but not exclusively) salsa, but I'm open to just about anything. I particularly like what my co-worker refers to as ethnic dances. The term makes me laugh because we're all ethnic! But I know what she means and so do most people. I'm just offended that Black American isn't included in her reference. (How many times have I said, "Don't make me get ethnic on you?") Anyway, I digress.

I've been talking about renting a cabin in the mountains for almost a year now. No, exactly a year now, because my cousin and I were supposed to go for my birthday last year...and here it is I'm almost upon that special day again. (June 6th for the head-scratchers....And don't you forget it!) I can't tell you the joy and peace I feel in the mountains, in the still of the trees, by a lake. God is more real to me there than anywhere. And, I figure if I can't bring myself to meet him at his house, I should at least make time to meet him in my preferred spot.

But the hustle and bustle of daily life wins out all too often. We run the hamster wheel trying to make a better life for ourselves and somehow in the process forget to live life!!! It's insane. I've had a much better year this year than in a long time when it comes to living, but I'm due for some more life in my life. I'm feeling my adventurous spirit (wander lust, Brigit calls it) surfacing in me again (Kim calls it Gemini). Part of me would be content to sell my car, live on a couch in a bording house somewhere (or on a relative's couch LOL) which will serve as my lauch pad as I travel the world with my compactly packed backpack and manageable hairstyle! I could have been a hippie! (Blippie, Omar calls it.) Really! I could. Minus the marijuana...not my style.

I was chatting with a couple of people about dreams today and I got very inspired. We forget our dreams all too often and get distracted. I think I'll spend some time today thinking about dreams -- if I could do whatever I wanted to without obstacles, what would it be? And then I'll try to figure out what's in my way. There's less and less these days and I'm starting to feel more motivated to get moving. What can I live without in order to live my dreams?

What about you?