Expression: authenticity and opinions

Let's talk about expression.

Expression of authenticity, and expression of opinions.

There is something we are all guilty of — me included — and enjoy a little too much: criticising others, voicing negative opinions, blocking people from being themselves. It breaks my heart how many dancers are still carrying a comment nobody asked for.

Please, tame your tongue. If there is nothing kind to say, say nothing. Words matter. A word can hurt. A word can lift someone up. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

When we criticise the way someone is trying to live as their authentic self, they shut down. They climb back into the box. They start trying to be like everyone else. And if we keep doing this, life loses its colour — we all turn the same — and we are quietly unhappy, because the moment we block our authentic selves we also block our joy. There is no alignment between heart and body when we are trying to be someone we aren't.

As an observer, try to be more compassionate. Try to be kind.

And if you are the one on the receiving end of an opinion you didn't ask for, there is work you can do to protect yourself.

Build a core inside. If you know who you are, what you value, what you stand for — if you live and dance in alignment with your mind, your heart, and your spirit — why should someone else's opinion shake you? You are unshakable. Do they even know you, or is it a snap judgement passing through? Negative comments still won't feel good, but if you know your worth, you'll let them go faster.

Never put your worth in competition results, in social-media comments, in follower counts, in someone else's mouth — not the bad ones, not the good ones either. Even when you feel successful and supported by the room, that can turn in a single life circumstance. One day you are the favourite; the next day there is a new icon, and then what is left? You have power and strength inside you. Work on that core. It is what carries you through the anxiety, the fear, the dependence on what people think.

Accept that you cannot please everyone. Accept that your partner's unhappy face on the floor is almost certainly not about you — it is about something happening inside them.

Remember that everyone is struggling with something, my friend. Forgive, and let go.

If we build a community atmosphere of love, support, kindness, and acceptance, we get to see people shine in ways we have never seen them shine before. There is a place for every one of us. Instead of competing with each other, let's lift each other up.

P.S. I have seen so many people bloom, relax, shine, and radiate joy the moment someone saw them and believed in them. Don't we all want that for ourselves? Let's give it to each other.