Creative Wanderings

Die Empty

“Alas for those that never sing,  But die with all their music in them.”   – Oliver Wendell Holmes  We received this book today at work from our Innovations team – aka, the big ideas team. Todd Henry, the author, spoke at Celebration about the need to live a full life… to explore and try every new idea that comes so that you can die knowing you lived. Really lived. I haven’t started reading the book yet, but I’m already excited about the concept. I am a fan of pursuing possibilities and expanding them out. Arguably, it’s how I’ve lived my life to this point. There’s certainly more ground to cover, and I’m excited for those experiences as well. 

By Erica, ago

Dance at Raglan Road

So last week I was at Disney World for our company’s annual Celebration. On Thursday night, we had dinner reservations to a lovely place called Raglan Road – and Irish pub-like restaurant. Most people eat appetizers before their meal. Me? I totally left my seat to watch the dancers entertain the crowd… not exactly anticipating that I’d get to be one of them! I was so excited I could only remember one of my soft shoe reel steps. But hey, it was AMAZING and the crowd seemed to like it too. Oh, and I’m wearing my neon socks. Yep, awesomeness!

By Erica, ago

Reading the blog

It started out with a question about my smile. I love my smile. It’s grown from where it used to be in my teenage years.  It is slightly lopsided, and you can see at least one dimple 99% of the time. When I am sincerely really truly happy, I have two dimples. I love my smile. And my dimples. And the crinkly eyes that come with all of that.  I used to be pretty smart and would post interesting things on my blog. Now that I’m less involved in school, that has declined a bit. I hope to improve on that.  I still love basically the same things, and the same things make me happy. Family, friends, dance, my kindle, peanut butter cups, sunshine… I still love BYU football; if I’m cooking and trying new recipes I’m definitely in a good place in life, and when I enjoy the seasons Read more…

By Erica, ago

In the free time…

So, as you learned in my last post, I did not make it into a dance group that I was hoping to be in for Christmas. Ultimately, this is for the best, as my calling is  much more important, and being in this group would have filled the remainder of my week and made it impossible for me to fulfill my calling. While I still will miss performing in that show just a bit, I realized two important things today.  1. I finally activated the gym membership I bought in April! In my defense, I severly sprained my ankle about 3 days after buying it, so it made absolutely no sense to redeem it earlier. But I’m excited to take a gym bag to work with me and stop there on my way home every day. I’m hoping it helps with my figure, but mostly my sleep.  2. I have Read more…

By Erica, ago

Midnight Musings

I’ve often wondered what others see when they see me dance. Do I look goofy? Do I look elegant? Do I look like I’m embodying the dance I’m doing, or do I just look like a body doing a set of dictated movements? I’ve often wondered this, especially as I’ve gotten older and done so many different styles of dance. At some point in college I realized – quite vividly – that the dancer in my mind’s eye is WAY better than the physical one I actually am in real life. I think I became resigned to that fact many years ago. And honestly, that’s okay. I like to think it’s my spirit dancing, and one day I’ll have the body that won’t limit all that glorious movement. As the years have progressed, I’ve become more limited. Time marches on, and the machine that is the body must be maintained more rigorously Read more…

By Erica, ago

On the boardwalk in Atlantic City, life can be peaches and cream

Once upon a time, I traveled to Atlantic City for a business trip… to Miss America. Dena Blizzard, a former Miss New Jersey and host of the event, decided to skip the rest of prelims and the final show, crowning me the new Miss America!  True story: this is the real crown that Miss America 2014 will be wearing on Sunday when she gets crowned. They have a practice crown too, but why wear that when you can wear the real one that sparkles?  Tune in to ABC on Sunday to see if they have me pinch-hit as the winner, and to see the new commercial that CMN Hospitals is airing (since that’s the real reason why I’m here). You won’t regret it!

By Erica, ago

Labor Day

I’m still working on pics from tour, but here’s some shots from the iPod to document September!  I must say, I feel sadly that I don’t post as often as I used to. Writing helps me make sense of my life, often times, and not keeping up to date on here bothers me. I suppose for a while I wasn’t happy, but that ended months ago. I have new and exciting things happening, but I guess I’m just afraid of sharing? Lol I don’t even know if that’s true. Perhaps all my readers have left since I’ve been so long silent. I’m here. I’m living and learning and working hard to be the person I want to be…. And the person God wants me to become. 

By Erica, ago

Bring the happy

Usually dancing makes me happy, no matter what. Usually. I mean, how hard is it to get an endorphin high when you’re doing what you love, wearing great costumes, and sporting awesome makeup?  Of course, this wasn’t my outfit tonight, but I still should have come away with a different feeling than I did. To be fair, it actually had nothing to do with dance. It has to do with friends and feelings. I’m not generally the most demonstrative or compelling person in a crowd. I tend to quietly observe when there are more dominant people-magnet personalities around. Sometimes I wish this weren’t the case, but that is who I am. Occasionally, this leaves me feeling like I’m not exactly anyone’s desired friend. (Already I know I should just change my attitude, because this line of reasoning isn’t exactly accurate. One of my friends tonight was super happy to see Read more…

By Erica, ago

Has it only been two years?

Remember when this happened?  Credit to Gammell Photography. I already bought a real pic, so all’s well. It’s hard to believe that two years have already gone by since I finished my Master’s program! Figuring out life and career post-school has been an adventure, to be sure, and an interesting one at that. 

By Erica, ago