Welcome to Barre None, my new video blog exclusively on Huffington Post. I'm Sara Mearns and I hope to be your tour guide into the world of classical ballet. You might ask yourself, "Why a video blog that goes behind the scenes of a classical ballet dancer's daily life?" Because what you see on the stage does not begin to capture what ballet or our lives are all about. You see the performance, but what you don't see -- the rehearsals, the costume designs, the frazzled nerves, the learning of a new ballet, the constant travels around the world, the injuries and the oftentimes long, painful road to recovery that lead us to wonder if this is the injury that can end a career -- it's all a part of what we do and who we are.
I'm only one dancer, but I hope that by giving you a window into my life as a principal ballerina at New York City Ballet, a door will be opened to more interest, curiosity, and enthusiasm for this artform that I, and so many others, love and work so hard for. So come on in, pull up a seat, and join me every Friday. You'll have a great time. I promise. Barre None.
A BEAUTIFUL ESCAPE
I'm sitting in my hotel room gazing through the huge glass window that looks out onto the Basque mountains of Spain, packing to go to Venice for the weekend and thinking to myself: How did I get here? Not literally how did I get here, but rather, in this moment in time?
When I travel to places far away from my home, I start to reevaluate my life and the people in it. Travel gives me the space to breathe and think about how my life has come together and where I want it to go. In New York, you have opportunities at your doorstep and it's about grabbing them at a moment's notice. You don't have time to think about it. While I may not be on vacation, my mind is certainly thankful for the escape and rebooting before the craziness of the fall that's about to begin. I don't think one needs to travel overseas to do this; this just happens to be where my job takes me. It can be as simple as a drive over a bridge to New Jersey or a walk on the beach on Long Island. You have to get out of your everyday element to really be able to step back and see what you have surrounded yourself with.
I will not be dancing in Venice this weekend but I will use that time and the magic of the city to weed out any unnecessary complications or irritants in my life. I highly reconnect this place of escape be near water or the ocean. There is something cosmic about how the water interacts with your psyche and emotions. I feel very lucky that I am at a place in my life of great peace and forgiveness within myself. The universe has given me an unparalleled gift recently that I don't feel I deserve but I know I will not let go of it, ever. Distance and space have made me realize this and, in turn, makes me value this gift ten times more. The gift of love is very powerful and it can surprise you.
I may sound like I am blabbering on about nothing but just know that escaping from your everyday reality -- even if just for an hour -- will make you see what's really important in life. Let that inspire you to make the best decisions possible. Peace of mind can only do good.
I am truly grateful for the gifts the universe has bestowed on me and I thank my lucky stars everyday for this wonderful life. This is a whole new me from what I was a year ago. I am not saying all life is beautiful but you have to find the beauty in the ugly and the upsetting. Find the escape and you will find the beauty.
See you next week!
Check out last week's video blog here.
You can find Sara Mearns on twitter here: @nycbstar2b.