Many people always come up to me and say "Wah you teach dancing full time ah? So lucky to be able to work on something that you like!" And unspoken in that is 'how I wish I could be like that and have a full time job on something that I love too'.
It's funny that many people think teaching dance just consists of going into the class, telling a bunch of people on what steps to take, how to take them, turn on the music and viola!..
The dance classes come about because of a series of things that are needed to be done to accumulate in an event that is the class. Most people don't see all the work that goes on into this. There are students to call for class, there are students schedules to arrange, there are syllabus and choreographies to be set up. The prep work is significant, like many other kinds of jobs. It is fun, but the hours are long, and topsy turvy to regular work hours (yeah, we work retail hours).
Honestly, I don't consider teaching work. I enjoy sharing and teaching people, especially if I have a lot to share with them and they are like absorbent sponges. What I consider work is the stuff that everyone else considers work: paying the bills, admin stuff, organizing schedules, settling enquiries, marketing and other stuff. Teaching is the time that I make friends, socialize, contribute to society by sharing my knowledge with others. Setting syllabi and choreographies are also not work, coz I genuinely enjoy the creation process, and it's my fun time.
I'm immensely grateful to be in a job that I love and that I enjoy doing. I'm glad that I can have so much fun in my work, that I can make great and awesome friends, and that I can share so many things with many people and watch them grow and mature from beginners into great dancers. It's so amazing to see their love, passion and appreciation for life grow through dancing. I truly enjoy that and I am super humbled by this grace God has given me to be able to impact many people's lives.
I used to think that my talents are small and minor in the light of the things of the world. I mean, what is dance compared to saving people's lives in medicine, or the ability to create amazing technologies, build fantastic houses and other things. But now, I see the value I bring to people's lives, sometimes more than what money can buy. In the mature people, I help them to maintain their fitness and health; I keep their feet and mind nimble, helping in the prevention of diseases so prevalent among the aged in our society. In the young, I aid in building their coordination, musicality, discipline and help them to expend their energy, giving them a better, healthier and disciplined body to help in their mind studies and more. In the teens and young adults, I can help build their aspirations, inspire them to be better people, give them avenues to mature into beautiful people, learn social skills and build relationships. It's an awesome job when you actually step back and think about it. It's humbling that I've been given such a position of influence, yet scary at the same time that it can seem like such a huge daunting task that is my life's calling. (And this is where I'm glad that I have a God who guides me in all things I do)...
There is one thing that people do say to me quite often that I find frustrating... They see that I work long hours and everyday, and think, "Wah you poor thing! You work so long hours, and everyday somemore. Must make sure you have enough rest and have time for yourself." They are well-meaning when they say that, but what they say is not exactly in my best interests, nor is it entirely accurate.
Yes, it is true that I clock long hours at my dance school, but this is also true of many people and their jobs: when work must be completed, we need to make an effort to finish them. I just work slow (but I'm getting faster!). Also, my work and play time has grey areas because they both occur in the same place, and I think this is the most misleading part. People can't see clearly when my work/play place and time are, because they occur in the same place, and much at the same time.
When I teach, it's play. When I do admin stuff, it's work. When I talk to students, it's sometimes work, sometimes play. Admittedly, I had big problems differentiating between work and play when I first started doing this full time. I still get confused from time to time, even now, after 10 years. So I can't really expect others to be able to differentiate between my work and play time. On top of that (as if it's not confusing enough), the people whom I teach and work with are also the people I spend my play time with. It can get a tad frustrating if you let it get to you, but the benefits far outweigh the costs:
1) I'm paid to do what I love, while others pay to do what they love. By working in what I love, I am doing things that I enjoy most of the time.
2) I save time and money on commuting to and fro. Even though work and play can get confusing because they are both occurring in the same place, one major advantage of this is that I can spend more time doing these things coz I don't have to factor in traveling time. Many people spend 3 - 5 (or more) hours traveling from home to work to play and back home. I don't have to do that, and as a result I can spend more productive time contributing to the things I love. I can also concentrate all my energies to do these things, rather than worrying about rushing from one place to another.
3) I get to work and play with the people I like, my friends!
4) As mentioned earlier, I get to play a small role in enriching people's lives through dancing, health and more. It's a true privilege.
5) This one's a little bit chim, but the way we work, play and eat together, we live in a communal setting and this 'family' feeling is essential to our lives and welfare. At times, it may seem stifling and over bearing, but I'm surrounded by people who care for me and vice versa. We look out for each other, and even though we all have our flaws, we are a family.
By learning to give, being grateful and collaborating with one another, we can work together to do great things for our community and to help people around us, things that we cannot do as individuals.
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