Mina in the wild

Since our move to Amsterdam I have had quite a bit of idle time on my hands. It’s certainly been hard to get use to after years of working three jobs in New York, and waiting tables 50 hours a week in New Orleans. I do get to train again which is absolutely amazing, but as far as auditioning goes there just aren’t that many. The arts have taken a serious hit this year. I’ve spoken to a lot dancers in New York and they are faced with the same problem. I have most certainly struggled with waking up in the morning and not knowing what to do with myself, and I let it get to me in a way I’m not particularly proud of.

I went through the same thing in New Orleans. I was ironing my white button up after a 13 hour shift when the ironing board collapsed on me and my eyes welled up. I made that ridiculous face we all make when trying to pretend you aren’t crying and force it back down, and i thought I do nothing with myself other than waiting tables.Tthe whole idea of that is just absurd We are not our jobs. We are simply ourselves, we have jobs, we pay our bills because of said job, and we live our life. I think because I have always been so passionate about dance I started letting that define me instead of just being a part of me. That is when I started to think that I was whatever job I was doing at the moment. If you let your job define you and something goes wrong then you start to question yourself, but it is your actions and how you respond to situations that show who you truly are. This is a lesson it’s taken me longer to learn than I’d like, but better late than never I suppose.

It’s now time to wake up and smell the tulips. I’m living in Amsterdam with the love of my life. We eat apple pannekoken, and peruse the red light district. We visit the markets full of fresh produce, and the shops full of latex. When I take a step back and look at this chapter in my life it’s pretty spectacular, and it’s just the beginning.