Hello Lovers! Meet Sommer! She's a dear friend and the bright and compassionate mind behind a new awareness IG account called @raisethatbarre. Her mission is to start a conversation, to shed light on the harsh realities of the dance world, as well as to come up with collaborative, community-based solutions to the hardships faced by dancers. She bares her heart and soul today in this very candid conversation about her experience in the ballet world and her relationship with her body. At 22, she suffered a spinal injury that would end her dance career, AND begin her healing and self-love journeys. 

Topics: the toxicity of the dance world (and ballet in particular), body dissatisfaction, eating disorders, socialization and stigmatization, shame around resting, injuries and healing, substance abuse, social pressure, health and sustainability, mental health, feeling not good enough, self-worth vs. looks/thinness, "productivity" and guilt-trips, collaborative solutions, competition vs community, SELF-LOVE and empathy! 

Shout out to @maddiebless on IG. You can go and participate in her survey via her link in bio. And many thanks to @paulazulkoskey for the happiest picture of Sommer. 

Please do give her a follow @raisethatbarre and engage in the conversation. Thank you all for listening and for sticking around. I have decided to relax my publishing schedule and focus on quality conversations, over self-imposed rigorous scheduling. Thank you for trusting me and sticking around. #humaninprogress 

All my love, C. xox