Not by the Manual.
There is no perfect move and no single right way – you take the base, and live it your own way.
At ten she joined a dance school and memorized every move exactly as taught – and couldn't understand why the front row went to girls who danced imprecisely: smoother here, their own way there, with a “mistake.” Then she saw it. They danced with their hearts.
Years later the same lesson returned in her spiritual work: exercises from mentors and healers, followed step by step, didn't work – until she stopped asking “is this correct?” and started asking “does this serve, does it respond?” The Healer tells the same discovery from another life: no one can do the healing to you, and no teacher's steps replace your own. You take the base – and live it through yourself.
Her inner straight-A student still protests sometimes. She hears herself more often. That's the whole practice.
🌸 Not by the manual
There's a feeling that from childhood on we're taught to be “straight-A students.”
To do everything by the manual. Precisely. Correctly. As “one should.”
I was about 10 when they enrolled me in Todes, the dance school. I danced there for some five years.
Everyone fought for the front line.
I memorized every movement. Exactly like the teacher. Move for move.
And I couldn't understand – why were the front rows given to girls who danced imperfectly? Smoother in places. Their own way in places. In places with a “mistake.”
And then I understood.
They dance with the heart.
Yes, they know the base. But into every dance they put themselves. A bit more flirtation. A softer turn. A little air in the movement.
I noticed something similar in spiritual work.
When I found exercises from mentors, from healers – I tried to do everything to the letter. By the steps. By the rules.
And honestly, it didn't always work.
Until the realization came: it's not about “correct.”
The point is that it serves you. That it responds.
You take the base – but live it in your own way.
There is no perfect movement. There is no single right way.
Each of us will do it differently.
Through ourselves. With our own hands. Our own body. Our own heart.
And yes, that inner “straight-A student” of mine still gets indignant sometimes.
But more and more often I hear myself.
And I choose to do it my way. The way that's comfortable. The way that brings me joy.
And this applies to anything we take on.
Dance, work, creativity, cleaning, cooking, the way of self-discovery –
don't be afraid to add a piece of yourself to anything you do.
Thank you for reading.
If her words reached somewhere mine don't – good. That's what this blog is for. Take what fits and leave the rest.
– Jan