Are you familiar with #NaNoWriMo? It stands for National Novel Writing Month, it occurs in November and it’s a virtual commitment and community that spends the month of November committed to writing 50,000 words. A spin-off of #NaNoWriMo is #AcWriMo which stands Academic Writing Month. Same concept just for academic work such as dissertations, journal articles, and the like. I like to participate in #AcWriMo not just to get work done, actually I enjoy being an #AcWriMo Ambassador because I get to cheer people on, encourage writers when things get tough, give a loving kick in the booty when necessary and basically be a keeper of the flame. Encouraging others encourages me; it’s a good cycle to get in.  This year I am very fortunate, I don’t have any deadlines or assignment looming so I have a lot of freedom. Therefore I decided to just binge write – write everyday about whatever catches my fancy. I’ll use December to sort it out. I’m committed to write but to write happily and freely.

I haven’t been going to ballet class much lately. I’ve been tired and stressed from other life events. I love ballet and I know that it helps everything but sometimes… well, it’s just difficult. Sometimes things are just difficult.

On this blog, I usually like to commit November to a month of gratitude. So I was thinking about gratitude, #AcrWriMo, and all the things that I’ve been dealing with and it occurred to me that sometimes being grateful is about accepting those things that are difficult and living and enjoying life with the difficulties included. I’m not talking about dancing on an injury or going to class instead of being with loved ones that need you but in taking care of myself as I need it and working because sometimes work is really the very best thing for me, for my mind, for my body, for my spirit.

So my commitment for November is a commitment of work and of gratitude because I am grateful for all the things that I have and that I have the ability to work hard and continue moving forward in my life. For the month of November, I am writing everyday (although not necessarily here on the blog) and I am dancing everyday – 30 days of writing and dancing.  And in my November commitment to dance I choose to simply luxuriate and enjoy – I will not set any goals or pressure to move up a level or increase the number of pirouettes that I can do but just to enjoy the freedom and joy of dancing every day. I only want to make dancing and writing in happiness a habit and a commitment that hopefully will carry on beyond the month of November!