Trying New Things

I guess I'm like any other person where I have my ups and downs.  I go through periods where I just live day in and day out only wanting to give bare minimum of effort in work, church, or whatever.  And then there are other times where I find something new that captivates my attention and gives me something to look forward to doing in my spare time.  Last year my "new thing" was sewing.  Almost 10 years ago my parents purchased for me an inexpensive but usable sewing machine and my mom taught me a few basics to sewing.  It does not come naturally for me.  I am not patient by nature, and I want to rush through my sewing projects so that I will have a new skirt for work or new gift to give someone.  That is when I make mistakes and have to tear out the machine stitches, rearrange the fabrics, and try again.  I have been able to make two small quilts last year (one for Phil and one for his older brother who makes crafts for me, too).  Right now I'm working on a tote bag that allows me to use up extra pieces of batting (the cotton material that is sewn in between the top and bottom layers of a quilt) so that I don't waste it.  The bag will be soft and can carry books, clothes or whatever.  I've made mistakes on that too but I hope to try to work on it a little today before heading over to my father-in-laws house for Labor Day weekend cookout.  Last few weeks I made a costume for a murder mystery costume party at our family reunion.  It turned out OK but several mistakes and frustrated comments made to my sewing machine (and me, the sewer!).  So all I can do is keep trying and learning from a few friends who either sew for a living or have sewn their whole life.

My newest "new" thing is belly dancing.  It is so funny for me to say it or type it out because where I live, most people do not belly dance.  To people here, belly dance can be perceived as an outdated and middle-eastern only art form that is only meant to be sensual.  We have belly dancing performance troupes in MI.  There used to be one about 45 minutes from where I live and they would perform locally at community events in my hometown.  I saw a second troupe fro about an hour south from where I live who performed this summer at a fundraising event I was at and at the end of the performance they allowed anybody who wanted to learn come and dance the last song while they gave instructions.  I went up and danced, as I'd learned a little bit from a belly dance instructional workout DVD I had tried a few times at home.  I didn't do too bad, and that encouraged me to pick up the DVD again and pay close attention to the art of dancing.

I am not a graceful person.  I am terrible at team sports which is why I'm picked almost last during wiffle ball games at my in-laws.  I'm not naturally a good dancer which is why I don't dance outside the privacy of my bedroom where I workout.  But in this case, I didn't care whether I was not good.  I wanted to find a fun new way to try to lose extra pounds that shouldn't be there and to appreciate an art form from a different culture.  Many of the moves on my DVD lean more toward Egyptian style moves, but I know there are Lebanese style dancing and African style dancing too.  YouTube has free instructional videos, I especially like the ones from Tiazza Rose who makes online videos to instruct you to dance for fitness or to dance to make your own dance routines for performing.  So even though I'm not all that great at it, it gives me something new to learn about.

I would like to try the art with washi paper.  I may try it and not be very good at it, but at least I would have tried it and may find I love the art of doing something new to me, even if I don't love what I create!

What new things are other people trying at the moment?