The one thing I remember while looking at the photos I received from my parents on my birthday, is how full my life was outside of skating, outside the rink.  Hopefully, this post is a friendly reminder for you to take a little more time for yourself outside of skating.

I’ll be sharing three personal stories with you.  Each relate in some way to my figure skating journey & I hope you can relate to my stories.  You can read the third part below. Read story one here & story two here.

Story Three

“8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…,” we all shout in unison, shaking one hand at a time, then each foot.  This is our ritual, the thing we do collectively before the start of our performance.  We don’t separate into cliques, or meditate in lonely corners, instead we come together.  We all may be different, have various skill levels, show varied levels of interest in dance, but at this moment we’re all the same.

The green room smells of hairspray, some sort of Victoria Secret vanilla floral body spray, and sweat.  Not the kind of sweat I’m used to smelling as I arrive for an afternoon practice at the rink after a team of hockey players leave the ice.  That’s the kind of smell that makes your nose hairs escape from their follicles in your nostrils.  The kind of smell that instantly makes you feel nausea.  The kind of smell that makes you just want to yell, “YUCK!”

This was the kind of sweat you’d smell & automatically know you’re in a room full of dancers, pre-performance.  We all stretch along the long bar attached to the wall.  Or lay on the floor legs straddled to allow for long deep stretches in-between laughs or handfuls of gummy worms. 

We helped each other finalize last minute hair & makeup touch-ups.  We walked through our dances, counting each beat.  Volume buttons fixed low enough to not disturb the group next to us who are doing the same thing. Our teacher waves her arms in a way that motions quiet down, all while shouting, “5-MINUTES!!”

We all scramble to our feet, grab our props & carefully slip on our dance shoes.  The anticipation & excitement is palpable.  We can’t wait to share our talent with our friends, family, classmates, & each other.  We all scurry to our starting positions trying not to touch the curtain or get distracted by the audience’s murmuring.  We shoot each other huge smiles checking no one’s red lipstick escaped onto our teeth. 

We’re ready! “SHOWTIME LADIES!  LET’S GO!!” our dance teach shouts from the wings, & signals for the lights to be lowered, curtains to be drawn & the music to start.