There is little more inspiring to me than an excellent community college and the passions and inspiration it generates in a community. Portland Community College is certainly that. Everywhere I look, there are people, old and young, pursuing activities to make their lives better. This is far from the ivory tower I've spent my life in. Not to say anything against the ivory tower, but the people you find in community college have experienced the hardships of life, and they've mostly turned to education for a tangible bettering of their lives. This is different in boarding school and private colleges, where we studied because we grew up in an environment that taught us education would make our lives better. We abstractly accept this, but most of us have not experienced life without education. It reminds me of everything good about education to be here. It reminds me of what I always thought education must be - a tool to live better. And not in an abstract, liberal arts, student of philosophy, sense of the word, but real lasting spiritual, emotional, and economic improvement.
I'm taking two Pilates classes, modern dance, hoping to get into Ballet, and I might just add Afro-Cuban hip hop, because hey, why not? The days are already turning to a non-stop whirl of coffee and dance. i still haven't registered for that Art History class I intended to take. Maybe in the summer, but right now, Pilates feels more applicable. It is one of the few things, in fact, that feels necessary.
My treatment of social dance is subtly shifting. the excitement is wearing away, and something else is emerging. Something playful, something less desirous of impressing - something that i own, something silent that is waiting to expose itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZINUHjEDv00
