Happiness just came by

Prior to this whole pandemic mayhem we're experiencing right now I used to organize weekly dance practices. It was a good year and a half but I remember how much it fulfilled me while helping me physically and mentally. Now I yearn for the world to go back to normal so that I can get that same sense of happiness that I once knew. I never really felt that I took this happiness for granted but the lockdown made me realize just how lucky I really was.

To give you a little backstory, I started breakdancing back in 2001. At least I became interested back then. There was a small group of people organizing these practices every week at the local university. It was fortuitous that I was able to encounter these individuals as they changed my life forever.

Back then I didn't really belong in any groups but I found that the dance really helped me gain some ambition in things. It was fun learning new things and meeting new people. I gained a lot of friends in those formative years of my life.

When my university years ended back in 2004 I thought my ambitions for the dance would end along with it. Little did I realize the fire in me was still strong. I was fortunate to get a job that didn't pay much but it was enough to go traveling. Most of my trips were dance related where I would meet even more people. These strangers and I were able to connect simply because we all shared the same passion.

Unfortunately in the years that year there was a bit of a changing of the guard so to speak. The older people that ran the university practices went onto different journeys in their lives so practices were no more. I wanted kids to experience the same life changing effects that the dance did for me. The only way to do that was to organize practices myself. If nobody is willing to do it you have to be the person to step up to the plate.

So I started the practices. I was a no name dancer with very limited skills. What I lacked in talent I made up for in determination. No one came to the practices for a while. Still I had the Field of Dreams motto of "if you build it they will come". It took a long while but one or two regular people started to come to practices.

I continued this process up until the pandemic in 2020. The practice became pretty famous because of its consistency. During those 16 years I've had people come practice with us from France, Japan, China, Russia, and other countries from around the world. It helps that it took place at an educational institute.

One of my worries was that the university would eventually kick us out because we're not students anymore but the employees there have known us for so long that they were in on helping us out. This comradery between locals and dancers alike was a beautiful thing.

Through 16 years I was able to see a lot of faces come and grow. I've seen kids become full on adults. Although a lot of them haven't continued with the dance I have kept up with a few of them. It's beautiful to see how each of them have grown into the person they became. There's especially a fulfillment in your life when you see that some of the practices that you taught to them have translated into something special in their lives.

It was a lot of work trying to make sure that the practices always fit into my schedule. I had to fit work, my social life and family into the equation for so many years. If you ask me to do it again I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Organizing these practices brought people together. Some of these people would never have met if it wasn't for these practices. It gave me a sense of community and the satisfaction that I'm helping them. All of us were able to grow physically and mentally. Not all of us had the same opinions on things but yet because of our shared commonality we were willing to hear each other's reasons.

When this pandemic is finally over I know I'm going to have to start at ground zero again. It's a gamble. Many people have moved on with new interests during isolation. I'm much older now so I won't even be able to keep up with some of the kids nowadays. That's not important. What matters is that I keep it going again so another generation will be able to perhaps see the happiness this dance might bring to them. I know it has made me love life.