Ok. Although the day was dull and cloudy, I managed to do something for the day, and it turned out to be good!!
First, yesterday, I was afraid I would skip, but I managed to sketch. So am happy!
Second, this is a sketch from memory. This step is one of the dance steps of one of the Zumba instructors at Marino center at Northeastern. This step was interesting and difficult, because, it required you to move the same side of leg and hand at the same time. Usually the steps were such that you move left hand-right leg, or right hand-left leg. And this kind of step where you stretch the same side of hand and leg at the same time, was confusing! I kept replaying the step in my head after the session to think it out how can someone do the step and switch from left to right, and that too so fast. That's how the image kind of registered in my head. The pose had something admirable about it too.. It was swift, feminine, full of grace and subtlety, and powerful! So I decided to try to print this out from the hard disk in my brain some day. And today, when I did it, I kind of pleased myself. Its not bad, for a sketch from memory! Good job :) Actually, I am kind of feeling more happy now, than when I actually sketched it..
< Disclaimer: I am going to blabber about philosophy below. It does not tell anything about the sketch. So ignore it if you feel like..>
By the way, Zumba is a dance exercise routine which incorporates different dance forms from around the world into aerobics. The exercise has a noticeable effect after a day, that it requires you to start thinking differently, and kind of unwinds your head, and then rewinds it, as if rebooting your system. The music, the rhythm, and the act of moving yourself in sync, has a different effect on your mind, in addition to the benefits of exercise. I recently figured out from an online course, that our brain has
separate sections reserved for dealing with different sensory
information. The way eye department works is completely different from
the way ear department works. The brain has a map in place for our body
parts. And the more regularly I am attending Zumba, the more I am able
to realize that physical activities like dance and sports require as
much mental energy as the sitting and thinking work require. Its just
that different parts of brain deal with the processes, and they do so in different ways. To me, being terrible at foot work, and ok at study(Read math, computer, science, research) work, the instructors always seem to be genius people. I admire their skill, energy, and the ability to function in a way different from me. I feel like revisiting the term smartness here, its not about computers, science and mathematics. It can be in any field. It requires smartness to excel in any field. So if any parents are reading it, watch how your kid's mind functions. And help him/her excel in areas suitable for such work. Imagine a world where the toppers were supposed to be the ones who were good at arts, sports, dance, music etc., and it was alright if they were terrible in mathematics, science etc. I would be a below average student in such a world. So lets try to redefine smartness and think once more before labeling someone as "not smart" and hurting their self-esteem.
Ok! signing off now, and I hope that tomorrow will be a smooth ride :)
