On starting ballet at age 62

RE:member

I have a complicated relationship with social media. It’s a love/hate sort of thing. But it is absolutely friggin fantastic when one of your best friends shares a random post that she found interesting and next thing you know it becomes the best thing you read all day – maybe all year.

Such is the story, The Little Light by MICHELLE HERMAN.

Michelle weaves a beautiful narrative of (re) entering a ballet class at the age of 62. She knew that she had, in a way, come home to her self, her body – her soul.

She describes the first moment of class;

“I didn’t hate it. I didn’t hate it so much that almost right from the beginning I was in tears—that peculiar sort of crying that comes from joy that surprises you.”

Her rediscovery of ballet showed her the work from the movements, the joy of reconnecting with her body and the “elevation of the everydayness.”

Perhaps my favorite part of Michelle’s essay is the life advice she offers from her experience –

Build a solid structure, Filippo tells us, and then find the open spaces where you can experiment, be yourself, and make it your own.

With stability comes freedom. If you are strong in your center, the rest can move freely around it.

Everything is connected. Everything you do is informed by what you have done before.

Commit to the transitions, he urges us. Even though they are not the highlights, they are the platform for the highlights.

And: No matter what happens, stay in it. Even if you forget or make a mistake, keep moving. “Here I am!” Own it. And then find your way back in.

Search every moment for what is there. Especially in the pauses, you have time to find something new, the next thing.

You can (and should) read Michelle’s entire essay at Slate.com.

Michelle Herman is a novelist and essayist in Columbus, Ohio. Her books include The Middle of Everything: Memoirs of Motherhood and an advice book for children, A Girl’s Guide to Life.