In the park yesterday morning, I found out through my Facebook feed that my friend Jamie Zimmerman had suddenly died on Monday. Drowned in the ocean while on vacation in Hawaii. I had just seen her last month, and was going to be seeing her again at the end of this month at Soul Camp.
Tears kept pouring out of me as I read the posts and stories people were posting online.
Jamie was 31 years old, a doctor, a teacher of meditation, and a light and inspiration to so many. It breaks my heart that we are saying goodbye to her presence here on earth.
I sat on a bench and meditated in honor of Jamie.
I felt my breath. I took in the sun. I gave myself permission to just be.
(All things that I tend to struggle with on a normal day)
There’s no way to make sense of such a sudden passing of a life, but there is a way to take hold of the life you have right now.
Before I found out about Jamie, I was going to write to you about going easy on yourself. To not push so hard or try so hard. To give yourself permission to slow down.
I’ve heard these things a million times, and I’m sure you have too, but there was something in particular about this week that made the “going easy” seem even more necessary.
Take the pressure off yourself to be perfect. You already are.
Nourish yourself with kind words and good nutrients.
Love yourself first, and then go share love with someone today.
10 minutes before show time and there’s my mom standing in the doorway of the theater, proceeding to tell me:
“...there’s an armed drug dealer on the loose in Wood-Ridge. We almost couldn’t leave town to come here tonight…”
While it wasn’t the best of timing to hear this news, it did raise a really important question.
Why am I making a dance show?
Why do we create art?
In a world where people are being shot and lives are being threatened and other tragedies are going down every day, who the hell cares about people dancing on a stage??
[....moment of reflection….]
I do.
And if you’re reading this, maybe you do, too.
Here’s my theory on why we care and why we must keep creating:
The tragedies and struggles we face as humans are the very reasons why we need to create art and express ourselves.
For every terrible thing that happens, let us add something beautiful.
For every moment of depression and stuckness, let us help move one another.
Let us unearth the things we are most afraid of, the emotions and fears that live inside of us.
Maybe if more people let things move through them creatively, we’d have less tragedies happen in the first place.
And so, as I type these last words before moving into the day and preparing for the second night of our dance show, I take a moment of silence and say a prayer.
May each dance I make help deliver more positive energy and love into the world.
May it ripple out into waves of inspiration that uplift the planet and one by one put down the guns.
Have you ever made art or seen art in the face of tragedy?
What inspires YOU to create?
Please share in the comments below and let’s keep the creative love flowing.
Oh, and by the way, the sniper in Wood-Ridge was caught and all were safe.
If you’ve been feeling tired, lazy, crazy, unfocused, or unmotivated in the last week or so, you are not alone.
Between the supermoon eclipse on Sunday, the weather changes (if you’re in a weather-changing climate), and the changes happening within you and your life, it’s not surprising that life could feel a bit overwhelming.
Here’s the lesson I keep learning:
Trust your tired. Trust your desire to stay in bed longer, or cancel some plans, or do things differently.
Your mind might judge you for being “lazy” or “selfish” because your mind wants you to constantly be doing things.
But your body. Your body is connected to your subconscious self, the part of you that knows what you truly need to do or not do. It even knows what’s coming in the future - at least that’s my theory.
Years ago I was taking a course called Creating The Work You Love by Rick Jarow and there was a part that kept coming back to me this week, that I think pretty much sums up the point I’m getting at:
He said - and I’m paraphrasing here - “People ask me all the time how it is that I have the energy to teach, write, travel, and speak as much as I do at my age. And I tell them, I spent 6 years meditating in a cave with monks. That’s how I can do what I do now.”
At the time he felt the desire to meditate in a cave, he had no idea he would be writing books and teaching all over the world. He just followed his intuition and did what felt was right.
In retrospect, it was all that time connecting inwards that allowed him to do all the work in the outer world later on.
Get my gist?
I had a similar experience in the past couple of weeks. Working from bed on some days, pushing my to-do list farther and farther into the future, and giving in to my body’s need to sleep more and do less. (Ok, it wasn’t quite meditating in a cave, but it was my version of it.)
And then seemingly out of the blue I got invited to co-lead the dance floor at this fashion and art event called MOVE! in addition to prepping for the Dance YOUR Dance show next week. I’ll also be teaching at Soul Camp West at the end of the month and doing some things in LA before that time.
So I’m trusting my body’s guidance and resting more when I need to, knowing that there might even be more amazing things on the horizon that I’m prepping for without knowing it.
And I recommend the same for you.
Which brings me to my theme for October:
“and then she opened up to receive magic and let it dance through her.”
Are you ready to receive some magic?
Are you ready to stop pushing yourself so much and just allow things in?
Please share in the comments below and let’s dance into this new month together!
loving your lazy,
Jess
p.s. Soul Camp, the adult sleepaway for the soul, is heading to California October 28-31 and I am teaching! This mind/body/spirit BURST of joy is an immersive experience unlike anything you’ve experienced before.
If you have ever wondered what it would be like to live in a village of conscious people digging deep and having meaningful conversations… spending your days bouncing from restorative yoga to energy work to chakra clearing to angel breath healing to intenSati and ending the night in a kayak on the lake under the stars… then this is the experience for you. And if this entire concept scares you, perhaps it’s exactly what you need.
Visit www.soul.camp/west to learn more and use code JESSICASOUL for a 20% discount off tickets!
I was in a session with one of my amazing dancer clients earlier this week. She was struggling a bit with solidifying the solo dance piece she is in the process of choreographing.
To paraphrase her dilemma:
“I don’t know what moves should go where. I don’t know if I should wear shoes or go barefoot. I’m playing around with different song ideas….”
Whether or not you’re a choreographer, maybe you can relate in some area of your life?
Is there a place where you’re just not sure what should go where and so you hang out in wishy-washy land?
It’s easy to stay wishy-washy.
It’s easy to avoid making a decision in hopes that it will just be made for you.
It’s easy to defer your power to something outside of you: an authority figure, your astrological forecast, your partner, etc.
Believe me- this is one of my biggest downfalls and easiest trap to fall into.
But I learned something extremely powerful in the last week -
It’s actually MUCH easier to simply decide.
Repeat after me - these are the 2 simple words that will boost your creative power big-time:
I decide.
When you make a decision and commit to it - whether it’s with a piece of art you’re creating or within a relationship or career decision - you free yourself.
You also free the people in your life.
Contrary to the typical fear that you’ll be cutting off so many other amazing potential choices, by zeroing in one thing, you actually expand your potential.
Suddenly the world opens up.
In the example of my client session, I coached her into the remembrance that this is HER piece and HER choice - no one else’s. There’s no wrong decision. She let herself dance into exactly what she wanted and afterwards felt more powerful and free than she had in awhile.
And isn’t that a mirror for life?
Boldly choose your path and stick to it. Things might change down the road, but if you don’t commit to SOMETHING, you’re stifling a whole lotta energy and creating confusion in the world.
Let’s say the words one more time:
I DECIDE.
It’s your life, it’s your art. Take the reigns and dance with them.
to the power in you,
Jess
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Are YOU ready to take your power back and initiate creative change in your life?
Let me lovingly kick your butt into action this fall.
5 spots are open in my calendar next week for a 30-minute Creative Guidance Session. I’ll help you identify exactly what’s blocking you, what your bigger creative vision is (it might not be what you think!), and how I can guide you step by step through the process of making lasting change.
There comes a point when you have to stop blaming your job, your relationship, your health, your family, your crap-that-only-happens-to-me, and you start taking charge of your own life.
You dance because you want to. You create the life you desire.
I’m not saying the outer circumstances or roadblocks aren’t real - oh boy, are they real!
And I’m not saying that the change will happen overnight - very often transitions are convoluted, challenging, and not black-and-white.
But I am saying that it starts with a moment:
a commitment to oneself to gather all the power you can muster, to bring in support where needed, to take responsibility, and to make the first tiny step.
One of my joys in life is to be the midwife for this kind of creative emergence - helping people take back creative license on their LIVES. It’s not just about making art, it’s about making your life what you want it to be.
The story I’m going to share with you today is of one of my clients Aimee who successfully quit her 9-5 job and made dance her career.
It involved letting go of the fears around disappointing her family (it was a family business) as well as her fear that her new path would be a failure (it’s not).
In Aimee’s words:
“I have accomplished A LOT with Jess.
“I have quit my job (!!!), I have my own dance company that performs, I teach dance workout, I have my own class where I teach my own choreography each week, I am dancing in multiple companies, and have noticed a new respect from peers within the dance community.
“A lot has shifted for me. I feel like I am on my life path and it feels so good and I am not only one who gets to enjoy this shift, everyone around me gets to enjoy being around a happier, more loving, more creative and thoughtful me. It’s awesome!”
Want to know more about how it happened?
Watch her Showcase video below where we talk candidly about:
Aimee’s transition out of her job
what it’s like to make dance your career
AND get a peek at Aimee’s debut dance video that she created as her final project in the Thriving Artist’s Program.
Please comment below with your questions or takeaways that you want to apply to your own life!
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Are YOU ready to take your power back and initiate creative change in your life?
Let me lovingly kick your butt into action this fall.
5 spots are open in my calendar next week for a 30-minute Creative Guidance Session. I’ll help you identify exactly what’s blocking you, what your bigger creative vision is (it might not be what you think!), and how I can guide you step by step through the process of making lasting change.
There’s a creative world in you waiting to dance it’s way through you.
Don’t stop the flow.
Let it go.
It’s time to grow.
I told you so.
;)
supporting the most expressed, fulfilled version of you,
Jess
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Here's Aimee's awesome dance video that she choreographed and produced:
"The project I am presenting for the showcase is called Vampire Teeth and is an original choreography created by me and filmed by my good friend Mallika Prakash.
"Vampire Teeth, by the reggae/dancehall artist Busy Signal, was a song created for revenge against another dancehall artist Movado (I think) who was talking shit. The song it’s self is all over the place lyrically but the beat is strong, dark, and menacing so I tried to create a work that had those qualities plus more literally gangster and warrior like. This piece incorporates movements from dancehall, Afro-Haitian, and Afro-Cuban dance to tell a story of anger, death, and remorse. This is not a happy dance but more darkly expressive. For me it was a healthy way to express my anger for whatever reason."
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What will YOU create?
Let's talk and find out.
5 spots are open in my calendar next week for a 30-minute Creative Guidance Session. I’ll help you identify exactly what’s blocking you, what your bigger creative vision is (it might not be what you think!), and how I can guide you step by step through the process of making lasting change.
As the seasons around us begin to transition out of summer and into fall, many of us are also going through various kinds of life transitions. Maybe you, too?
In our You Can Dance Again class last Wednesday, I guided everyone to explore transitions with their dancing -- what does it feel like move quickly or slowly from one movement to the next? what happens when you physically resist transitioning your body? what happens when you joyfully leap into the next part?
Based on the collective feedback of the group and my own insights here’s what we gathered:
It feels more easeful, free, and fun when you stop thinking so much about transitioning and just let yourself dance. Because after awhile everything starts to feel like a transition and it can get exhausting to examine each and every movement, versus just letting it all flow naturally.
The more resistance you put into it, the more tension is created, and therefore you’ll experience a more powerful of an opening when you finally let yourself break through.
Isn’t dance a metaphor for life?
As you enter into the weekend, think about the following:
Are you over-thinking anything? Where can you surrender to the flow of life?
Are you resisting anything? What would happen if you finally just let go?
Then share more in the comments below if you want a sounding-board or just want to bring things to the surface.
I’ll leave you with a short poem I wrote the other day:
Somewhere between gung-ho and hold-up,
Somewhere between dancing forward and wiggling fitfully through the kinks and cobwebs,
Somewhere between what is to come and what has been lost,
Somewhere in there, she lands.
I’m sending so much love to you, no matter what kind of transitions or in-between moments you might be navigating. Remember to keep dancing through it all. You're not alone.
Jamie was 31 years old, a doctor, a teacher of meditation, and a light and inspiration to so many. It breaks my heart that we are saying goodbye to her presence here on earth.
5 spots are open in my calendar next week for a 30-minute Creative Guidance Session. I’ll help you identify exactly what’s blocking you, what your bigger creative vision is (it might not be what you think!), and how I can guide you step by step through the process of making lasting change.
I’m sending so much love to you, no matter what kind of transitions or in-between moments you might be navigating. Remember to keep dancing through it all. You're not alone.