A Week of Workshops

In a continuation of my newly-begun quest for personal growth and life enrichment, I took a giant leap from my comfy zone by attending two workshops last week. And did I mention they were free?

The first was billed as a wellness workshop, which included three segments on nutrition, basic yoga stretches, and meditation guided by a hypnotist (!). I was admittedly nervous beforehand as I thought about performing yoga in front of other people. Until last week I hadn't ventured beyond my beginning-yoga DVD set, performed safely in my living room, away from the probing eyes of others who could see how ridiculously inflexible and unbalanced I am. 

But what I discovered during the workshop's yoga section was that public yoga is far less intimidating than I thought it would be (at least it was with this instructor and with this group). The truth is everyone in a yoga class is focused on what they're doing and on their own breathing and movement, not on yours. I think this workshop was the impetus I needed to finally sign up for yoga classes (a goal of mine since January) and allow myself to risk looking very silly in public. (Hey, let's face it, it wouldn't be the first time!) So I'd say the workshop was definitely a success.

The second, a writing workshop with Rochester, N.Y.-based poet M.J. Iuppa, followed by a poetry reading of her work, was even better. It was the quintessential "artist date" (and how wonderful was it that the poet/teacher is also a Julia Cameron fan?!) in every sense of the word. The writing exercises were challenging but very beneficial, producing two pieces of which I can be proud, and I learned some new creative-writing prompts that I can reuse in the future. And the best part of all? I felt very comfortable in this group (and really, how often does that happen to this eternal misfit?), like I belonged within a small cadre of like-minded creative artists and scholars. It's so wonderful to feel accepted, in addition to feeling artistically fruitful, for even a brief time.

And on a humorous side note, some of the workshop's other perks, included compliments on my poetry-writing and poetry-reading styles (seriously, anyone who knows me knows that I'd rather skydive 100 more times than ever speak publicly, though I managed, somehow), and a remark from one of the other participants that, in her opinion, I bear a striking resemblance to "a Russian actress who was on The Sopranos." I'm typically accosted by people at least every other week or so, asked if they know me from this or that place, and told that I look just like their niece, cousin, former high-school classmate, etc. I think this latest "identification" may be my favorite, and I suspect I'll be chuckling to myself for quite some time over this comparison of me to a presumably attractive, exotic actress.

 Now, please excuse me while I Google "Russian actress from The Sopranos"...