just a spoonful of sugar

Beauty is everywhere. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such beauty. It’s in the way the trees sway oh so delicately with each gentle afternoon breeze, how the sunset reflects vibrant hues of pink & orange in the spray of each crashing ocean wave, taking the first sip of that perfectly crafted latte from your local coffee shoppe, in the beautiful smiles of friends & strangers…seriously, everywhere & in everything. But what I find most beautiful is vulnerability.

Vulnerability is defined as being susceptible to being wounded, under attack, or hurt. It’s not easy to put ourselves out there in front of the entire world. Hell, some days its not easy to get out of bed. But we do(most days, at least). Being a human nowadays is quite terrifying really, we live in this world of mass criticism. How many times have you not done something because you were afraid? Afraid of what someone would say, afraid of the reaction it would bring about, afraid you weren’t smart enough, or that you’re not the right shape, size, color, pattern, ect. I can think of several instances when I was afraid to be vulnerable, to put myself out in front of everyone, to be exposed & prone to criticism(perfect example..this very blog lol). Being vulnerable is something that I still struggle with, it’s hard for me to open up to people & to trust easily. But every single time I have stepped outside of those bounds, I have discovered something beautiful, created something beautiful, and experienced something beautiful. We are all beautiful just the way we are, in our truest, raw, most vulnerable & exposed forms. Never forget that you are the only YOU on this planet & that my friends is truly beautiful.

I live in the performing arts world. I am an actress, I sing, I dance, I choreograph..talk about being vulnerable. For a very, very long time whenever I would be in class, or rehearsal, or teaching, or even performance the same panicky thoughts always bop around in my head…mostly negative..yeah pretty much all negative. Then I would begin plotting some sort of cover up so I wasn’t so exposed(not going to lie this still happens from time to time, but I have gotten a lot better about it). Here’s a little example, for many years I thought I couldn’t sing..or at least not very well. Sure I could always hold my part and stay on pitch…but didn’t think that there was anything special about my voice or much too it. & the sad part about all that was that I was okay with it, I was too afraid to put myself out there to even try because I was always the dancer and that seemed to work out just fine for me. Then one day, someone challenged me to step out of that comfort zone of just being the dancer. He saw something in me that I couldn’t see in myself. He challenged me to be vulnerable and to try something new, I owe everything to this man. It is because of him that I have discovered my voice. He continues to challenge me & I continue to discover that I have the ability to do things that I never dreamed imaginable. You know who you are & a million times thank you.

I dream that people will realize that there is nothing wrong with being vulnerable, it takes a very strong individual to be able to do so. & I dream that one day everyone will be able to see the beauty in vulnerability; it is such an honest form of beauty.

All that being said..have a BEAUTIFUL day, week, month, year & forever.
Besos, Alex