Photos + Journaling in the Metadata
Blake got Izzy’s old iPhone around the end of summer. He’s on it a lot, mostly texting, I think. It’s still a surprise to get a text from Blake and I love it, even if it’s just a quick mundane note that I need to pick him up.
While Blake blasted music from his iPhone in the kitchen to do dishes, Aiden and Trinity got out a few costumes and played around the living room.
David and Danny spent a few days at our house while their parents (Uncle Russ and Aunt Nuria) were in Asia. The kids took a walk to Basha’s to buy snacks for themselves with their own money.
This is a regular trek that the kids do on their own, with their friends, and with their cousins whenever they stay with us.
They’re on Cheshire, the road behind our house.
This morning I saw I had a message from the owner of the dance studio. We’been adjusting to the chaotic life, constantly changing schedule, information overload, and overall demands of Trinity being on the company team. I was worried she needed to have a talk with me about the rehearsal we accidentally missed on Saturday because we’re still learning how to get it all organized.
But when I listened to her message, she said, “I’m calling about an opportunity for Trinity and I want to give you December to think about it.”
When I called her she began explaining the group of dancers called Power Elite that are even more serious than the overall ranks of the Company dancers.
“There are those few dancers that can’t get enough dancing,” Tina told me. “They want to be at the studio all the time. They want to be dancing every day.”
That’s Trinity, I thought. Trinity is a true dancer, all the way to her core.
“It’s hard on the families,” Tina continued.
And I knew that, too. Right now Trinity dances between 6.5 to 8.5 hours a week, and more the week of recital. She is at the studio 4-5 days a week.
The first couple of years Trinity’s teacher urged us to let her audition for Company, we were positive we couldn’t handle the schedule. When we finally did it this summer, and she got in, we realized we could make it work.
She works hard and slow on her homework (the curse of a perfectionist), and sometimes she’s up late working on it, but she gets it done. The dishes are another story, and we realized we have to rearrange her responsibilties around the house because she just can’t get them done on her long dance days, no matter how hard she tries.
That’s why I thought, “maybe next year,” when Tina said she wanted Trinity on the elite team, despite my exhilarated and racing heart. It would require another two hours of dancing on Wednesdays and two hour every Saturday. We would take her out of her extra tap class, and possibly her extra jazz class as well.
“I’ve been watching Trinity,” Tina said. When she first joined Company in August, she definitely wasn’t ready for it yet. She didn’t have quite the confidence in all of the styles.”
No, she didn’t. Trinity had only ever taken ballet until she made company last August. Suddenly she was thrown into tap, jazz, lyrical, and a little bit of hip-hop. But she progressed fast! I kept hearing about it whenever I went into the studio.
Tina continued to explain, “But I’ve been watching her again — watching her dance next to two of the Elite girls I saw that she was right there with them! She’s got that confidence and the ability.”
She also has the passion.
I told her I would talk to my husband, but we’re still trying to adjust to Company life — we might need to wait until the next opportunity.
When is it all too much? Trinity would have an off-balance life. But as I thought about it, I realized some people need off-balance lives. Some people can do that — can specialize in one thing, throw their life into one passion. Those are the people who become truly great at what they do.
As soon as I told Izzy about the invitation, he jumped on it. He was ready to shuffle everything around for Trinity to be able to take the opportunity.
So we asked her. And she was giddy all day about it. So was I. And when we walked into the studio that evening and told both of the Tina’s — the owner and the dance manager — they acted giddy about it, too.
I’m so proud of that girl. So happy for her.
Keeping Track of Your Photo Stories
Just a quick note to newer readers around here — I have two articles you can read about the simplest possible way to attach the stories and details of your original photo files. That way you can write the stories down immediately, share them (attached automatically!) with others, have them permanently linked to your pictures so you never have to go looking. You can read the articles here:
The Most Important Word for you to Learn This Year
How You Really Can Tell ALL of Your Stories
