This is because once I went to a Bible Study and the icebreaker was, “If you were going to join the circus, what would you do in the circus?”
And I was like, “Trapeze. Duh.”
Because, really, what else is there?
Right about this time my plans for a several-month-long mission to El Salvador went up in smoke. It’s possible I was in a funk and I said to myself, “Self, you should check the internet for the closest circus class.”
I figured there might be one I could drive to in Canada.
Well, what do you know; there was one in my own city! Not twenty minutes from my house!
Therefore: I signed up for acrobat lessons (side note: it’s because I thought that would mean “trapeze” but apparently it doesn’t. For this class, at least. My bad).
Allow me to say: it’s possible that acrobat class is my VOCATION. I love it. Amen.
There are several things I’ve learned from Acrobat class. Below you will find them, in no particular order.
- I’m stronger than I think.
- The body is incredible
- There is freedom in commitment
- I’m as self-conscious as a middle-schooler about the size of my rear end
- We should not be afraid to pursue the things we love
Every week the instructors will say, “Alright, class, this is what we’ll be working on today.”
And, without fail, I’ll be like, “WHAT?! THAT?! There is NO WAY IN THE WORLD I can do that!”
But the fellow-students will turn to me, all nonchalant, like, “Let’s do it.”
Usually (with assistance) I can do it. Holy guacamole.
Is it possible that this holds true for all of us? In many different situations?
What if you, you who are reading, possess the strength to do things that will blow your mind?
This is tied in with the concept that, as humans, we are both body and soul. I don’t think this is covered very much in the Christian-speak world. I think we tend to focus on the soul; which is all good and valuable, no doubt. However, we believe in a resurrection of our bodies (we say that in the creed). We believe that God created us with individual souls as well as individual bodies. No two souls are alike, neither are two bodies. I love acrobat class because it helps me to realize the gift that is body. Thanks, God.
Sometimes you just need to try and trust. Commit to the movement.
If I’m too afraid to try…I’ll never flip, fly, or stand. Only doing will lead to perfection.
Just keeping it real.
(I should add that this is my own fault…no one else in the class mentions such things.)
There are several roles in this thing we call acrobatics. One is the flyer—the person who is being lifted, flown, or flipped. The other is the base—the one who is lifting and flipping the flyer. The third is the spotter who watches and catches the flyer should anything go wrong.
First day, first class, I was flying. I loved it. This doesn’t mean I’m good at flying…this just means I enjoy trying to figure out how to balance correctly, how to communicate well with my base, how to trust that my base will keep me lifted in the air.
I loved it so much, though, that I didn’t want to be selfish. I wanted to share the time flying. So, I told my partner that I would base and he could fly.
He told me that he didn’t like flying. He likes basing. The same held true for my other base—they base well, and they love being the base.
It was a life lesson. You know those things you love? The ones that make your heart sing? Maybe you need to do those, because when you do them, other people can do what they love best, too.
And then fly high.
Many thanks to awesome Paul from the circus who takes this great photographic proof of my acrobatic participation! Oh, and to my bases/ spotters/ flyers.