A Year End Review
Photo by Steven Trumon Gray for Complexions Contemporary Ballet
INSTAGAM’S BEST NINE OF 2018!
Photos by Kien Quan, Matthew Carlson, Julian Zabala, Nathan Carlson, Justin Patterson, James Jin, David Tufino, and Karolina Knepaite
Oh, what a difference a year can make! One year ago on December 26th, 2017, I received the best news I’ve only ever imagined to wish come true…a contract with my absolute dream company. Since then, almost everything in my life changed.
A year ago I was working as a freelance dancer bouncing around with different projects whilst working as a business development manager for a local physical therapist back at my hometown in California. Now I am based in New York City, dancing for a legendary contemporary ballet company, touring the world for 11 months of the year!
A year ago I was unhappy with my life, almost to the verge where I questioned my career as a dancer. Now I couldn’t trade the world for the life I am living.
A year ago I had 10,000 less of you following my journey. Now, I have a total of 24,000 (and counting) followers supporting me and spreading the love of dance to family, friends, and most importantly the younger generation.
A year ago I finally found the courage to start a blog. Now I continue to use it as another creative outlet to address dance related topics that’s barely discussed in hopes to inspire the younger generation.
A year ago, I was just creating content just to create. Now, this is something I love to do. These are personal projects I put my own time and energy into when I’m not performing around the globe.
A year ago, I entered the Big Apple with a circle of maybe 5 friends. Now a year later, I have found my close knit of like-minded humans that I can even call “family."
A year ago, I strived to make every aspect in my life perfect. Now I embrace the imperfection of my everyday life.
A year ago, I could not confidently tell you what my long term goals are. Now, I have even larger goals that I want to accomplish in the next 5-7 years and bigger dreams than the one I currently am living.
Now, I’m not here trying to impress you with my “accomplishments,” but I simply want to point out the power of a year. We often overestimate what we can accomplish in a short amount of time (e,g. losing 10 pounds in 1 week), but we drastically underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.
Most of the “accomplishments” mentioned above weren’t goals that I set at the beginning of the year. It just happened organically with time. Things just happened to fall into place as I was working hard towards the life I wanted to live in addition to adding value to other people’s lives. Big life changes won’t happen overnight. As I’ve learned throughout the past year and a half, trust the process…be patient and give yourself some time. You’ll be surprised with what can happen in a year!