心之所向Following My Heart
我心心念念的事是，我要有一間屬於我自己的舞蹈教室。
    There are two ways of determining if we are “following our hearts.” The first way is whether we are following the desires that our hearts are calling us or
not, and the second one is if we are living in our hearts. In other words, one is about the actions we are taking, and the other is more about we are the exact persons. Doing what we love means that we have to listen to our intuition, and take actions to follow our passions to the world without fear.
Our society today is driven by our minds, our fears and our ego. We do not place as much value and emphasis on passion, love, fulfilment and spiritual purpose. Rather, it is about external success, money, security, stability and reputation. As a result, many of us do not feel it is that important to really tune in to our hearts and hear what they want. This is the reason why when we attempt to start following our hearts, we cannot do what we desire. In fact, our hearts’ desires may not have an initial guarantee of income, or it may require a pay cut. It may mean that we have to go against what our family wants for us, or what our friends expect of us. We, certainly, come across some people, all the time, who have these amazing, beautiful dreams and desires, but they suppress and ignore them and tell themselves that they never have them. For most people, it is much easier to live in denial than actually face what they really want. They would rather pretend that they are happy with what they have, and justify to themselves that their inner dreams are not so important anyway.
To get started, we must begin by finding the courage to discover what our hearts want. We may experience feelings of confusion, self-doubt and even regret what we do in the first beginning. It’s OK. It is time for each of us to wake up, and connect with what we surly want. In order to do this, we have to be willing to do things differently, and to challenge the expectations that others hold of us. Our hearts, in reality, are connected to something larger. We might call it Spirit, the Unconscious, God, Higher-self, or the Universe. When we follow our hearts more, and our minds see the results, the integration naturally occurs. We’ve probably seen others follow their hearts. It looks good, but, on the contrary, we doubt our own abilities. They must have some kinds of magical abilities, right? No. They’ve simply experimented a bit more. They aren’t fearless. They just take things one day at a time, and one step at a day. They do feel fear, overwhelm, and confusion, just like everyone else. The difference is that they have developed the trust in themselves. One of the main ways that we can follow our hearts is by noticing our feelings. Those feelings come with peace and encouragement. They are enduring. The more we follow our hearts, the better we get at it. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about learning and discovering how our hearts communicate with us. We can say that courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to act in spite of it. It’s about stepping into the unknown, armed with the belief in ourselves and the conviction that the journey is worth embarking on. Courage, yet, involves embracing vulnerability, and being open to the possibility of failure, criticism, or disappointment, but choosing to move forward because the potential for growth and fulfillment outweighs the fear of what we might go wrong.
    Sooner or later, I will find an ideal dance space near “Kaohsiung Cultural Center,” where parking cars won’t be the problem. We all know that injury prevention is essential for dancers at every skill level, and having the right equipment can significantly reduce the risk of accidents and long-term damage. Therefore, the key components, such as a properly installed dance floor, well-positioned ballet barres and shatterproof mirrors, certainly, create a safer and more effective dance environment. In my dance space, the high-quality dance floor is necessary for safe dance practices. Ballet barres are a required equipment, too, that provides stability and balance during warm-ups, stretches and strength training. The excellent ballet barre, indeed, ensures that our dancers can engage in low-impact training safely. Besides, mirrors are another critical element in my dance space. For dancers, observing posture is really vital for correcting movements and avoiding injury from improper techniques. Wall-mounted mirrors are commonly found in my dance space, while portable mirrors provide a flexible solution for extra usage. These mirrors are lightweight, making the dancers in my space easy to move and adjust them with wheels.
Dance is an art form that requires skill, talent, and dedication to master. The role of a dance teacher is just as important as that of a dancer, and it takes a unique set of skills and expertise to teach dance effectively. Of course, the first and most obvious requirement for a dance teacher is a strong mastery of dance technique. A dance teacher must be able to perform the movements they’re teaching with precision, clarity, and style. In addition to dance technique mastery, a dance teacher also need to have teaching expertise, including how to communicate effectively with students, how to break down movements into manageable steps, and how to provide constructive feedback and corrections. They are also able to adapt their teaching styles to the needs of individual students, whether they’re beginners or advanced dancers. Definitely, becoming a professional and successful dance instructor requires more than just technical expertise in dance. They should be adaptable and are able to modify their teaching approaches to cater to different styles and levels. All in all, in my dance space, our great dance instructors will teach skilled dance techniques to students, and will inspire, motivate, and cultivate a love for dance in their students. As Martha Graham, the mother of modern dance, once said, “Dance is the hidden language of the soul,” I will follow my heart to imagine that our dance instructors and the students will practice together on a journey of self-expression, creativity, and growth in my dedicated dance space soon.