Today’s guest blogger is Laurie Epps.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. (Galatians 6:9, NKJV)
My grandmother Everitt used to always say, “Don’t grow weary when doing well.” I confess, it wasn’t until recently that I realized that’s a Bible verse.
My daughter, Ellen was a dancer for 12 years. I know she misses it still. It started off simply with just a little 45-minute class, once a week. But like a lot of things in life, it grew to be not such a little thing. By the time her dancing days ended, she had been dancing 6-10 hours, six days a week.
Even though at times, all the waiting was arduous, I loved every minute of it. You see, she’d emerge from those dance classes and rehearsals a new version of herself. She persevered in spite of pain in her low back, the bloodiest feet I’ve ever seen, countless corrections and occasional torment from teasing by the other girls. But when Ellen commanded the stage, it was with elegance and grace.
My daughter’s sweet sixteenth birthday was shared with thousands of onlookers from the greater Greenville, SC, area when the curtain rose on Sleeping Beauty. All the audience could see was a nanny pirouetting across the stage. It was as if God had orchestrated that exact moment for her, as only God can do.
Aurora is Ellen’s favorite princess, and Sleeping Beauty her favorite fairy tale. After 12 years of practices and rehearsals, her name was first on the playbill in oversized letters. All that work was for that moment at the Peace Center in Greenville, but I’m sure she didn’t always see it coming.
My favorite line that I overheard from her artistic director, Hernan Justo of the Carolina Ballet Theatre is, “I know you are raw. I know you are tired. But I don’t care!” What Hernan was referring to is something that all artists know. Hernan knew the vision, embraced the vision and was determined to see that vision through.
All of us get tired sometimes. Tired of working long hours, wanting the instant gratification that Americans are known for. Nothing is ever fast enough or easy enough.
For some of us, this is a passing feeling–much like that algebra class we thought would never end. But it’s over now, isn’t it? And in hindsight, years later, it didn’t really seem all that bad. (This is definitely true of childbirth!)
All of us are going through something, good or bad. If it’s good, I invite and encourage you to take a few moments of reflection to enjoy it. However, if it’s bad, please remember that it won’t last forever.
If it’s hard work, remember, if you keep at it, you’ll be finished soon enough so you can dance again. My prayer for my Ellen is that one day she’ll dance again, and metaphorically speaking, if you’re hurting, I pray that you dance again, too.
Laurie Epps has been featured in dozens of news articles, and literary journals both on and off the web. She has been included in a number of short story anthologies, and does some ghostwriting for prominent professionals nationwide. Laurie is active in a number of writer support groups and networks with writers from all over the country.
