Warning, some major gratitude going on in here hahaha:)

Hey People,

Sorry its been awhile again since my last post, or at least it feels that way since life is moving so quickly lately!  This year has been full of ups and downs already and we are only in the 2nd month!?  How is that possible??

So, it is officially my first year anniversary here in the UK, as of last week, which is also crazy!  The past year was pretty all over the place to say the least but somehow as 2011 approached, I made a conscious choice that it would be different and amazing and so far so good!  I am still working on the financial side of things, although I see improvement and feel like I am becoming more and more supported in that area.   I am very aware of my beliefs around money and am consciously trying to work on them and to make them more positive and productive.  One thing I really missed since being here was all of my amazing friends and family, who always make me feel special and supported.  I struggled alot with being away from them for the past year and at times I felt so lost in not having them to fall back on.  Recently though, I seem to be attracting so many amazing, smart, talented and loving people into my life and I have been feeling like myself again, which is so refreshing:)

This past weekend was non stop action and I loved every minute of it!  Friday I had an awesome photoshoot with an amazingly talented photographer and his lovely wife, by the name of Ben Mostyn (http://benmostyn.virb.com)
he was a joy to work with and I felt like I was at home with my family, with all of our exploring around historic Bermondsey Street and trying all sorts of fun things, like running in an alley, jumping across blocks in the park and sneaking some pics in on a cool sofa in a kitschy coffee shop:)  He was so worried that I might find his approach odd and I just kept thinking, this is perfect!

Saturday was an awesome dance day, I have missed those full days of dancing non stop where you go home exhausted and can barely move haha.  I know, us dancers are a bit nuts :P
I took two awesome classes early in the day, taught my Intro class at Danceworks and then headed to my first class at Husky's with Miha and Chris, which I had been eagerly awaiting all week and was anxious to see the turnout as one never knows what to expect here in London, or anywhere for that matter when you are new!  We had a pretty decent turnout for our first time (it was free after all hahah) and it was three hours of good vibes and fun dancing and everyone left tired and happy, so I was happy and am so excited for next Saturday!  I feel so privileged and lucky to be working with these two inspiring and talented dancers.  I truly believe that when we support each other, we are all successful and working with these two has been no exception to this belief thus far and I am so thankful for them in my life.

Today I was up early again for a private I do weekly with a couple of teens who are entering a competition at their school (fingers crossed for them!) and we finished up the bulk of their choreography and are in the home stretch on our project.  Then had another private with two new students, who I had lots of fun with and am looking forward to working with them again.  Overall this weekend reminded me of why I do what I do and what types of amazing things you can attract and create for yourself when you stay positive and excited about life.  I feel so blessed every day recently with the amazingness around me and I wouldn't change it for the world.

On a seperate and very special note, I learned this week that my family and friends at home are pooling their funds together to fly me home for my 30th birthday!?  I cant even begin to tell you how touching this is and how special it has made me feel.  Because I am away from home, I sometimes feel like I am out of peoples thoughts due to the distance and to hear of all of the awesome people I know coming together like that just for me, makes me want to cry (of happiness of course!)  If you are reading this and are one of those people that donated to my coming home, I want to say thank you more than words can express I feel so blessed to know all of you and you have made me feel very special!  Whoever is in Vancouver and available, I definitely want to see you at my birthday party so I can thank you!!!

Umm, I know that was kind of random babbling but I just wanted to share my happiness as this weekend comes to a close and I will do my best to share with you again during my week!

Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my life both present and past, I truly credit who I am and what I do to all of you:)

Much love
Shauna

Things that make you go hmmmm...

Since before the new year began, I felt like 2011 had some sort of shift accompanying it and I couldnt help feel excited and as if I was waiting for it to appear.  For the past week, I have felt excited, happy and alive.  Somehow though, this shift is not entirely in full force yet and today I feel a bit battered and set back again:(  Im not sure what this is all about, although I think the final part of it was due to my curious george nature and my decision to begin watching "Earthlings" with the roomies tonight.  I dont regret starting it and I will definitely finish it, as it feels educational and as humans we somehow like to be shocked and disgusted with ourselves via imagery and narrative.  It gives us this weird internal feeling of disgust for ourselves and our fellow man but somehow it doesnt quite push us to take that extra step and stop eating meat or wearing leather or or or does it?  Its odd how we can feel so moved by something and yet tomorrow I will probably wake up and have milk in my tea and no doubt eat something that was inhumanely killed or wear some leather shoes.  Argh, this notion makes me feel utterly queezy with myself and its hard not to hate on myself when I think of my role in all of the atrocities that are happening every day to defenseless animals and to our earth in general!  I need to start educating myself further on other options I think, as usually my reason for avoidance of new things is just a lack of understanding or readily available knowledge about them.  For instance, I would feel much better about myself in general I think if I made the choice not to eat meat.  However, as I barely get enough nutrients from my minimal diet as is, I need the iron and other nutrients I get from my random patterings of meat here and there throughout the week to stay strong.  I am definitely going to at least make the effort to seek other alternatives though, as I at least want to be able to face myself in the mirror knowing that I did something, anything to help!

Aside from that though haha (sorry got on a tangent there!)  I have been spending a lot of time this week considering the concept that if it is indeed true that we all create the physical reality we each live in through our sub conscious and conscious thoughts, then why am I creating my current reality for myself!?  I must have some sort of weird ish going on in my head still, even after spending so much time with myself these days and writing loads and trying to gain broader insight into all that is me and all that I want to be me, I am still creating discomfort and lack.  I know I have to continue doing all that I can to maintain a healthy, motivated and positive head space in order to continue living my dreams but some days I get frustrated and confused by it all and just want to give up and get a boring 9-5 and call it a day.  The lure of the constant pay check and outwardly flashy life, sometimes feels tempting but then I remember what that life felt like as well and something was definitely missing.  Even though Ive been broke for the past year and am continuing to struggle, I somehow still cant help feeling blessed with the talents god gave me and the amazing people I have in my life.  I just wish I had a clearer picture on what it is I am meant to do with my talents and how I can help others in this journey.  I am surrounded constantly by so many amazing, beautiful and inspiring people and to watch them and myself struggle makes my heart ache sometimes.  I want to be able to hold their hands and show them the way but I am pushing to find it for myself as well, so it is hard.  All I can offer for now is my positivity and kind words of motivation in hopes that we will all move forward together and there will be a light at the end of this tunnel for all of us that is shiny and rich:)

This is getting really long so Im going to stop for tonight but if you get a chance check out "earthlings" and prepare to change your lifestyle asap afterwards!

Lots of love
Shauna

My life in dance.....

So, since I am on a constant journey through life and dance and self love and at times loathing, I have decided to start a blog about it all!  I have never really been good at these types of things but am going to give it a shot and see what comes out:)

You're probably wondering, who the heck is this girl anyways haha.  Well that can only be answered by watching my life unfold I suppose but heres a rough outline.

Always being taught that I could do whatever I wanted, however I wanted if I just "believed" I have always taken the hard route in life and through it have met so many amazing people and had so many cool experiences.  I have been very blessed with a wonderful mother who has helped me to understand the power of my own creation (still mastering this) and so many beautiful friends and family that I dont even know where to begin in saying thanks for them all.  My day to day experiences are like anyone elses Im sure, in that they range from happy to sad to exciting to dull and back again but I always try to maintain an understanding of why things are happening for me and am on a constant mission to keep my thoughts full of love and positivity.  Ok cool your saying to yourself but how does this pertain to dance in any way?? hahah

Well, im not too sure to be honest, it just felt relevant somehow so I went with it hehe.  As far as dance is concerned, it has been my one true passion in life thus far and it took me longer than most to realise its pull on me.  A few years ago though, as I sat in my office plugging away at invoices and with a list of phone calls a mile long I realised it was time to follow that which had always driven me.  I quit my career job that I had taken so long to build up and was so proud of in so many ways and never looked back.  Since then, my life has taken a million turns and I have been on an adventure many people can only dream of.  Dancing has allowed me to travel all over the world including, Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, Switzerland, London, South Africa, Portugal and the list is growing!  Every day I feel so blessed to be able to do what I do and even though sometimes the road I chose seems challenging compared to the steady paycheque and mainstream approval that used to be mine, I have never regretted it for one second.  It has allowed me to grow in ways, both physically and mentally that I could have never imagined and I feel like my life experience has been more whole because of it.

Having said all that, I guess the reason I felt ready to start a blog now of all times, is that this year (2011) feels like it is the year to bring more clarity to what it is I want to do within dance and how I want it to evolve for me.  Writing has always been my means of shedding light for myself on my thoughts and feelings and so this time I thought I would share them with the intangible online world and see what results I came back with:)

I hope you enjoy my journey through life and dance and may we all grow and challenge each other along the way!  Keep your eye out for pictures, videos and stories of my adventures and travels:)

Much love to you all!

xx
Shauna