the mad hat lady can hoop!!!!

today was a beautifully wonderful day!!!! i got to spend some good genuine quality time with one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world. seriously check her out, she is one of the funniest most sincere women i have ever met! but to top off the fact that we got to hang, she learned to hula hoop today!!!! i love seeing people learn to hoop. it always starts with someone saying, "i've never been able to." or "i could when i was little but...." and then within a few minutes with a little perseverance, and a little bit of practice they are pushing that hoop around and loving it! there is a technique to it that i have yet to master the language for, but the basic idea of it is to put one leg a step in front of the other, then when the hoop hits one of the two pressure points on your hips you counter re-act that point with a slight shove, sending the hoop swirling around. now i have found that there is one factor that can not be taught, no matter how good the teacher, or how devoted the pupil. that factor is the ugly face......oh yes, the ugly face. the contorted face you must have at the beginning of a new task. it is different for different tasks, and changes with difficulty levels, but there is always a face. most times we are not aware of it until someone points it out. it just comes naturally, and once we get more acquainted with what we are doing that face relaxes.

today just as my sweet friend learned her own face, and how to hoop, i learned something else. i am learning new things every day. not just hooping, but also passing through a new place in my life, and with it comes a contorted face, one that might look misshapen or ugly. but i need it, and i should give myself some grace with it. i have no doubt i will get the hang of what is going on. and soon i will be able to relax into it. sure the "hoop" will still slip off of my hips, ill lose control, and it will fly off across the yard. i'll keep at it, holding to what my teacher told me, practice hard, relax my face and get ready for the next lesson.

digging too deep? maybe, but that is how i learn. ugly faces, bruises, and grace.......

i like that.

ps. mad hat lady, you make me smile real big!!!!!!!! thank you.