Showing posts with label guest post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guest post. Show all posts

Wednesday 22 April 2020

A to Z Challenge: Day 19 - S

Shilpa Suraj on Love, Marriage, and Other Disasters

(a guest post)

Divorced,’ ‘Ice Queen,’ ‘Snob,’ ‘Homewrecker,’ ‘Damaged’ – These are just some of the labels applied to Alisha, the heroine of Love, Marriage, and Other Disasters. Whether they are deserved, true or even just required, labels are less about who the person truly is and more about how people wish to slot them.
When I was growing up, relatives would often tell my parents to stop giving me ‘ideas.’ Because a girl having actual ideas would be the worst thing in the world, wouldn’t it? And my parents telling me that I could study as much as I want and grow up to be whoever and whatever I want were the worst possible ideas they could give me.
What society called giving me ideas, my parents called allowing me to dream. To reach higher, to aim further and to aspire for the world, if that’s what I wanted. No matter how far fetched my goal, their answer to every ambition I espoused was ‘Why not?’ 
And so, I grew up without worrying about societal prejudices and familial judgements. Unfortunately, I also grew up. And when you step out of the comfortable cocoon of your childhood and your parents home, you realise just how difficult it is to escape, to ignore or to deny the rest of the world’s opinion on you and how you should live your life. 
Difficult but not impossible. And that’s why I faced the world with the same bravado that Alisha does in Love, Marriage, and Other Disasters. For when your loved ones have your back, it’s easy to face forward with confidence. 
When my protagonist, Alisha, walks out on an abusive relationship, she doesn’t feel the need to justify her decisions to the world. And for that, she is labeled arrogant, snooty and in the eyes of men ‘available.’ 
Labels – Not true, not required, not deserved. 
If only, we could learn to be humans first, to view others as humans first. People often say, “Children are a blank slate. It’s what the world writes on them that then defines who they become.”
I think it’s true of each one of us. We are a blank slate. And we should write our own stories. Not the stories that the others would like us to script. 
Just like Alisha eventually did. It’s only then that we truly own our happy-ever-afters.

Book Links:  Goodreads Amazon

Follow the author:  Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram


Wednesday 15 April 2020

A to Z Challenge: Day 13 - M

Memories of Moments by Andrea Vermaak


I have a small magnetic white board on the side of my fridge. When I first moved into my own place, I wrote, 

“The small, seemingly meaningless moments make the most extraordinary memories.” 

This quote (my own) is still there on that tiny white board because it’s so true in my life.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting many people and travelling a bit, but it’s not visiting Edinburgh Castle or London Tower, or meeting Just Jinger or The Parlotones that stand out in my mind as some of my fondest memories, nor could I say that they lie hidden in my heart as something sacred.
Edinburgh Royal Mile - photo by Andrea
Some of my fondest memories are those from my university days when we’d sit on the grass outside of the Humanities building. We’d “invent” coding for a virus that would ruin students’ assignments when they printed them from a Word document and laugh at our own ridiculousness. We’d come up with theories about why there were so many random mounds on campus. We’d almost believe that there really were invisible trees that we keep on walking into, which would explain any previously inexplicable headaches.

I will never forget how utterly happy I felt on the way back from an all-day rock show with my friends. The stadium’s catering plan fell short, so we were all parched, starving and exhausted. But I was lying in the backseat of a best friend’s mini on our way to Uncle Fouzi’s in Hatfield for a midnight feast and I couldn’t have been happier. I could lie and say that I was happy because the day was rather epic despite adequate sustenance, but honestly, I was happy because I was with two of my great friends, whom I love dearly, and I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else in the world at that moment.

One memory I hold very closely to my heart is indeed one of when I was on a working-holiday in Edinburgh, but it almost definitely is not what you’d expect. A small group of us who were temporarily staying in a backpackers’ hostel decided to go out one evening. It was close to sunset. I can’t for the life of me remember where we were going, but I remember that we decided to walk down one of the many narrow closes that run off of The Royal Mile. Once we reached the end of the close, we suddenly stopped. No one said anything. We just stood side by side and watched as the last rays of the sun touched the buildings of New Town far below us. No photograph could ever capture the golden colours and quiet reverence of that moment. You could only feel it. You had to be there.

Photo by Andrea
You cannot possibly recreate any of these moments without losing something fundamental in the very fabric of their existence. They may seem frivolous and worthy of forgetting to most, but they seem to cling to my heart and mind. That is why the quote on the Winnie the Pooh magnet on my very same fridge rings true to me regarding the seemingly insignificant moments: “Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.”


Tuesday 14 April 2020

A to Z Challenge: Day 12 - L

Lemons and Lemonade by Carmen Botman


While I’ve been handed many lemons during my lifetime (who hasn’t?) there are a few big ones that have stood out.
I’ve always considered myself to be a writer – and this was my ultimate goal. I was utterly convinced that I would be a full-time writer one day, living in a remote cottage somewhere in the world, producing novel after novel. I completed my first manuscript a week before my eighteenth birthday. I was on my way to achieving my dream.
Big lemon number one was when I was told by my parents that I should consider studying something tangible – that is, something more tangible than writing. I ended up studying Occupational Therapy – a profession chosen purely by chance. While I still wrote some during my studies and after, this ‘lemon’ had provided me with a fair amount of job satisfaction and had afforded me the opportunity to live, work and travel abroad. I suppose you could say that I had made my lemonade.
In the years that followed I continued working as an OT and achieved some of the societal goals that are generally placed upon us. In 2010 I received the second big lemon, when my husband and I had to make an abrupt cross-country move for an indefinite period of time. My husband was furthering his studies and we ended up seeing very little of each other for about four years. But in that time, I met a fantastic group of writers who took me under their wings and during that period I was able to complete my first full-length novel and had my first short stories published. I had made some more lemonade and was once again on my way to fulfilling my dream – or so I thought. Just as my husband completed his studies, lemons rained down on us from all directions and we went through a rough patch with little time (or energy) for anything else but survival.
Then I became a mother – under immense lemon-like conditions. And three years after the first, we had another. Suffice it to say that my days had become intensely busy and blurry and exhausting. I suppose one could say that these were lemons being thrown in my way of becoming a writer. Well, if they (my kids) were (the lemons), then I had managed to make the most delicious lemon meringue from it! But every so often the yearning to write – to create – returns. Sometimes so intensely that it takes my breath away.
My point is this: Life will constantly hand you lemons. But we’re able to turn them into something much more meaningful. We don’t have to settle for the hand that we’re dealt. And yes, we may have to adapt the way we plan to reach our goals, but we don’t have to throw up our hands and cry ‘Woe is me.’ And we never have to give up on our dreams. On the contrary. Lemons are opportunities in disguise. We all have the ability to change things in our lives for the better. It might change overnight, or it might take years. But if you’re happy on your journey, does it really matter how you achieve your goals? If I had refused all those lemons, imagine all the opportunities I would have missed out on. No, I am not producing novel after novel, but I am happy with what I am still able to create after the kitchen has been cleaned and my boys are sound asleep. And being happy with and in yourself is all that really matters – isn’t it?

Find out more about Carmen on her website

Sunday 12 April 2020

The Creative Life during #LockdownSA (with 20 days still to go)

The Challenge: 2020

I am sure you will agree that 2020 has not lived up to the expectations that we have set for ourselves on 1 January. But has it been that bad? Of course, for the people who were infected by the Covid-19 virus, it has not been fun at all.
For those families who have lost someone they loved to the infection, it is heartbreaking.
And for the politicians and world leaders trying to figure out how to keep their countries' economies stable (at least) and fight the impact of the socio-economic issues (still not yet determined) it is a nightmare.
But for those of us everyday citizens trying to make a living to keep ourselves afloat in this time of crises, how bad has it been, really? Did you have to tighten your belt because you are self-employed like I am?
Being basically a level headed and fairly optimistic kind of person, I have not done too badly I think. I did have some work to do, which I will be able to invoice soon, and thanks to two of my writers' group friends, have been kept busy artistically as well. Like me they are artists and I have challenged them to a few creative projects during #LockdownSA. It helps to keep busy, but more than that it helped us all to keep our drawing skills sharp.
The one thing that I often forget - despite putting it on my to-journal list - is a gratitude journal or art journal entry. Last week I made it one of our creative projects and to me, it was something to remind of all the things that I am grateful for. Especially now as we are entering an extended lockdown of an additional 2 weeks (until 30 April).
Do I look forward to going back to work? Of course, I am. Being self-employed as a test and certification engineer does not mean that I work from home 24/7. I need facilities to do my work that I simply cannot accommodate, nor afford, to have at home. I am fortunate though that my work environment away from home is with a small company where any physical interaction with other people can be easily managed - mostly because we do most of our work as individuals, not teams. I am still training a newer member of the team, but he is not that green anymore that close distancing is required all the time.
If you are in isolation, self-imposed or otherwise, I trust that the need to be so will soon be over so that we all can start working together to recover from this situation. Recovery will take time, and teamwork on so many levels that I simply cannot even comprehend the difficulties associated with such a strategy.
Right now all I can hope (and pray) for is that the leaders of my country, and those of your countries, will set aside their political agendas and work together with their people to move forward from this. And perhaps even have a good and hard think on dealing with such a pandemic in future. Because it will come again, the question is: how soon and how bad will it be the next time?

On a more joyful note - here are links to the A-toZ Challenge posts on the Broomstick so far, with a hint of some of the posts to come. Enjoy! 💜

ART by Melissa a guest post about performance art
BFF by Linzé
COVID-19 by Linzé
DINNER by Linzé EDINBURGH station by Linzé FUN art by Linzé
GREEN by Linzé
HOLISTIC health by Vanessa a guest post and art journal
INKTOBER52 by Linzé
JOY by Linzé

Looking forward this week ...
Tomorrow: K by Kayelle a book release
Tuesday: L by Carmen a guest post
Wednesday: M by Andrea a guest post
Thursday: N by Charlene a guest post

Until tomorrow!
💜 Linzé


Wednesday 1 April 2020

A-toZ Challenge: Day 1 - A

I ... "do" ... art by Melissa Adendorff

I ... "do" ... art. I don't paint, or sculpt with tangible media, but I move in such a way that I sculpt a story with my body and paint and draw movement combinations in the air, in three dimensions for a very short time, and hope that they become imprinted on the eyes of those who watch.


I am art. I have always been … 
And while my embodied art is potentially a bit outside of the general palatable and consumer-directed mainstream … I am still and have mostly been artistry embodied.
My current incarnation of artistry embodied is that of a dancer ... an artform I deserted a lifetime ago, and returned to because I just wasn't myself without its particular form of expression. 
My permanent incarnation of artistry embodied is the art in my skin, as I am a walking canvas to some phenomenal tattoo artists ... which upsets the Royal Academy of Dance instructors and examiners to no end ... and yet, I am a dancer.
My previous incarnation of artistry embodied martial arts, where, while there is definite competitive satisfaction in a knockout or a submission, the magic happens in the performance of forms, open-hand, unbladed weapons, and bladed weapons … where you dance with “deadly” intention. That is where I shone.
Now when I think about embodied artistry in all the forms which impact my life, a vital aspect which comes to mind is anatomy … and for the artist who draws or sculpts or paints, this matters too … and for the artist who writes, there is an anatomy to a text … so it makes sense in most, if not all artistic contexts.
Now, originally when I was presented with the opportunity to partake in this collaboration, I wanted to use the letter “A” to talk about the artistic journey of learning a classical variation named Aegina’s Monologue from the ballet Spartacus, but in the meantime something more meaningful has happened for me in the ballet world, and that’s why I shifted my focus onto “anatomy”.
An incredible dancer, named Katherine Morgan, has been openly discussing the ballet body and the impact of traditional perceptions of bodily ideals on mental health. And this resonated deeply, because I do not have the ideal ballet anatomy, and yet, I identify as a dancer. I do not have the ideal balletic skin, considering my modifications, and yet, I identify as a dancer. I have directed my current academic research into this phenomenon as well, and this is another platform to bring attention to the fact that every body can be an embodiment of the artistry of dance.
Melissa Adendorff
Now, I had ambitions of potentially dancing professionally once, but then my anatomy worked against me, alongside a good dose of metal health issues, and my anatomy was pointed out to be unsuited to classical ballet … when I was a teenager … and that did some damage. I was a thoroughly competent and proficient dancer; I scored well in exams, my ARTISTRY was complimented, but my anatomy was shamed. When I moved into martial arts, my anatomy was praised because I developed a lot of functional muscle, and I could move with it. I maintained my flow. My highest martial arts achievements came from executing dance-like forms, with all of my body. But, when I hit my 30s, I missed ballet, and I regretted stopping, and I regretted what I had lost … so I promptly put on a leotard, and stepped into a space of shame.
Injuries, depression, and bad mental health habits had left me overweight (yet fit enough to perform in martial arts and climbing), but the ballet aesthetic was very far away from me. And I made the decision to alter my anatomy as best I could to be the best dancer I could be.
Now, the aesthetics of my anatomy irked me enough to question my decision to start this journey, but the functionality of my anatomy gave me the determination to be better for me, and the aesthetics were a perk … let me explain. After a nasty knee injury that required surgery in 2018, I knew that I had to make a lifestyle adjustment to work with my anatomy. I needed to work on what would work for my knee … and that meant to lose weight. The PRIVILEGE that I had in this decision was that I could choose it for my own wellbeing and acknowledge my own agency in that decision. The locus of control was within me.
In the ballet world, people are told to lose more weight than might be healthy, otherwise they lose lead roles or are cut from companies … and that is devastating in terms of overall health and wellbeing. This external judgement and punishment of anatomical traits might make sense in a company with a very specific aesthetic, such as the Balanchine aesthetic, where ALL measurements were prescribed, but not everyone experiencing this phenomenon is a professional dancer. Pre-professionals, vocational, and recreational dancers are faced with this, and that is problematic due to the very nature of the dancer’s character, where perfectionism and a need for control are close to the surface … and they can play out negative in terms of constructing and deconstructing anatomy.
Research supports this, as there have been qualitative studies which unanimously presented findings indicating negative personality traits including perfectionism, high levels of psychological stress, being over-achievers, competitive, and having a need for control being exacerbated by pressures of aesthetics, leading to disordered eating and overtraining (Hamilton, Hamilton, Meltzer, Marshall, and Molnar, 1989; Petrides, Niven, and Moukounti, 2006; Zoletić and Duraković-Belko, 2009).
The point of all of this is that anatomy should never restrict artistry. Every body can be taught to tendu. Anatomy is incidental, if one is healthy, and happy, and embracing whichever art form speaks to the soul … I might not be a teeny tiny prima ballerina, but I am stepping into my own artistry by presenting a mature body, a string body, preforming a mature and strong piece of classical repertoire. I step into the studio and I have faith that my anatomy will carry through a day of dancing. 
Do I look at the teeny tiny prima ballerina and compare myself? Of course. But I also make a conscious effort to claim my victories. I can claim my strength and my recovery (from the knee injury, among other things), and I can claim the grace with which I move all of myself.
And even though my anatomy is drastically different today than it was two years ago, I still think that the face in the first picture draws my eye, and I still think that the second picture conveys incredible emotion. I did not lose my inner artist by losing weight.
And that is the message that Katherine Morgan is sharing as well … your body does not determine how well you portray a story when you dance. Your anatomy might determine turnout, but turnout is not everything. Artistry makes for magic in ballet, and anatomy is secondary to the art.
The message here is that embodied art is possible for every body … anatomy works with artistry to make magic. And that is what artists of all forms do.

References
Hamilton, L.H., Hamilton, W.G., Meltzer, J.D., Marshall, P., & Molnar, M. (1898). Personality, stress, and injuries in professional ballet dancers. American journal of sports medicine, 17(2), 263-267.
Petrides, K.V., Niven, L., & Moukounti, T. (2006). The trait emotional intelligence of ballet dancers and musicians. Psicothema, 18, 101-107.
Zoletić, E., & Duraković-Belko, E. (2009). Body image distortion, perfectionism and eating disorder symptoms in risk group of female ballet dancers and models in control group of female students. Psychiatria Danubina, 21(3), 302-309.

Sunday 29 March 2020

A-to-Z Blog Challenge 2020 Theme reveal

April is almost here and this year I am taking part again in the blog challenge. I have guest posts and books and art and art journaling to share with you. There are still a few spots left if you are looking to feature a new book or would like share your creative journey with me and my readers. The schedule is updated and posted to my Twitter profile if you are looking for some free promo.
Remember your name, last name, title or theme has to suit the letter of the alphabet, so make sure I still have a date/letter available to suit your creative post.

I hope to see you soon here on the Broomstick!

💜 Linzé

Friday 6 March 2020

Art Journal 2020: Found Poetry (a guest post)

According to Wikipedia, found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them. I spent 2 days exploring this in my art journal, using random pages from a book bound for the recyclers. As a journal, I use a recycled, stitched and bound hardcover fiction book. I glued 3 pages together with acrylic gel medium as I was afraid that the black markers would bleed through. 


I used Dala acrylic gel medium. I usually gesso the pages, but this time, I needed the text. I used Stabilo coloured pencils in the colours pictured above. They are wax based and have excellent blending abilities. Artline 725 and a fine Sharpie were used for the design and the zentangles. Silver washi tape, married the two pages stylistically. Any HB pencil and putty eraser is a must for planning a design. The white pencil depicted is a blender. 


Step 1: Choose the poetry from the text of any book page. You need to know a bit about poetry, especially rhythm. Highlight it by drawing a thick, dark box around it. Next, I drew a leaf design in pencil on the page. I divided the leaf into 7 separate sections, you can choose more or less if you like. Now you are ready to choose zentangle patterns. There are literally millions of patterns with their step outs available on the internet.


Step 2: Draw your zentangles with your Sharpie and fill in the black areas with the Artline pen as they are much cheaper to use in large areas. Make sure that you have no tiny, white areas that are left open, for this you need good lighting.


Step 3: Colour the area around your design with coloured pencils. I used an underlayer of yellow in certain areas and to darken, I used the dark blue tone to depict shadows. The blender was used throughout when I went from darker to lighter areas. Avoid overworking a recycled book art journal. The pages are not high quality, it simply cannot handle too many layers. 

Step 4: Apply Washi tape around the upper and lower edges to marry the two pages. I stencilled the wording on the side of the page. The opposite page was done in exactly the same manner, I merely used coloured pencils within the design itself, as the found poetry got a bit lost. A word of advice- use zentangle patterns with black areas, this will make the found poetry pop. 
The important thing is to have fun with your designs and colours. There are no rules, just your creativity which has no bounds.
Hope you join me next month, when I will be painting a Koi in watered down acrylics, paired with a zentangle whale.
The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul."
Have a super creative month!
💚 Vanessa

To see more of Vanessa's art follow her on Instagram

Until next time!
💜 Linzé


Friday 28 February 2020

Guest Post and Giveaway: Francis H. Powell on his latest release

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By some freaky coincidence, a theme that runs through my latest book is happening for real in the world, with the news centered on this dreadful coronavirus outbreak.
My book is called Adventures of “Death, Reincarnation and Annihilation.”
The theme of world annihilation is covered obviously, with the idea of one human or being surviving catastrophic events.
Somebody recently asked  me “why write a book about death”
I suppose it is something that has always fascinated me as well as frightening me.
In my first book, Flight of Destiny, I had a story called the Duke, about a man condemned to death, but treating his own impending demise , with disrespect. I have often had thoughts about the death penalty. It is unmanageable to think your life is due to end at an appointed time. The clock ticking until your life is switched off like a light.
If an author or anybody reads the news, or watches the news on TV they can find themselves thinking the world is facing impending doom.
In 2017 people could imagine the end of the world was upon us as Planet X was to due crash headlong into the world according to "Christian numerologist" David Meade, amongst others.
Thankfully this never came to pass. There must have been some people looking through their telescopes however. It makes me recall the film “Melancholia” by Lars Von Trier.

This Rumanian Baba Vanga, was a woman who got into the news and scared the living daylights out of me. A woman who disappeared in a storm returning blind as well as full of predictions about forthcoming events Brexit, 9/11, the rise of ISIS and the Boxing Day tsunami. 

The world according to Baba finally coming to a sticky end in 2341, as the earth becomes uninhabitable. I think 2341 might be a bit optimistic. The human race is incredibly destructive and in one of my stories in my book The “world there after” talks about a world that is so polluted it is uninhabitable.
 The world was on its final journey towards being obsolete, humans with bodies were now an unnecessary inconvenience in President Tubes eyes. The world had become unsustainable.
 A vast catastrophic event had seen a previously undetected “super volcano” erupt and now a dense cloak of ash shrouded the world. Large areas were bereft of sunlight, causing an eternal winter. Nothing grew now. All animals had died, in a short period of time. Famine and disease had spread and the world was now the most meagre of existences, threadbare and barren.

In my book, I make the point that world is fragile and needs looking after.
All of this kind of thing in newspapers and on web sites can play heavily on an author’s mind.
My book is not all doom and gloom, there are also elements of wit and there are plenty of quirky happenings and bizarre characters to stop the reader falling into some melancholia.
Somehow despite crack pot leaders, megalomaniacs, unethical businesses, pollution, weapons of mass destruction, the world keeps on turning. Long may it do so.

About the Author
Born in 1961, in Reading, England Francis H Powell attended Art Schools, receiving a degree in painting and an MA in printmaking. In 1995, Powell moved to Austria, teaching English as a foreign language while pursuing his varied artistic interests adding music and writing. He currently lives in Brittany, France writing both prose and poetry. Powell has published short stories in the magazine, “Rat Mort” and other works on the internet site "Multi-dimensions." His two published books are Flight of Destiny and Adventures of Death, Reincarnation and Annihilation


Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!

Thursday 6 February 2020

Art Journal 2020: Love (a guest post)

Today I have the pleasure of my friend, Vanessa Wright's #ArtJournal2020 contribution. She loves using zentangles in her art journal, and I thought it a good idea to let her tell you how she approached this art journal about LOVE using zentangles.
Zentangle was invented by a monk, Rick Roberts and an artist by the name of Maria Thomas and meditation met art. This method of drawing promotes concentration, creativity and personal well-being. This art form is traditionally drawn on 9x9 tiles.
2020 saw the beginning of an exciting art journey for me and my friend, Linzé Brandon. We started art journaling. After reading up on a few articles and watching endless YouTube tutorials, I finally knew which direction I wanted to take regarding this art form.
  • First and foremost it needed to be a personal journey, not just random art for art's sake.
  • Secondly, I wanted to do something that had only rarely, if ever been done. I had been part of the Tangle all around Facebook group, run by Alice Dean Hendon for nearly a year and yet had any artwork to show for it. This was the perfect opportunity.
  • Thirdly I wanted to be able to look back at the pieces and see whether I had gown as an artist. 

Here is the process I used for this zentangle art journal entry:


  1. I decided to repurpose an old hardback book which was missing a few pages and was doomed to be thrown away. As the pages were stitched and not glued, I was able to rip out nearly half of them.
  2. I then glued 3 pages together by applying gel medium and added two layers of gesso to prepare them for anything I wished to throw at them. I was worried that the text, which was still visible, would impact the artwork, but my acrylic background covered it effortlessly.
  3. I mixed sap green and lemon yellow and lightened areas with titanium white which I applied directly to the page.
    Zentangles around a cut out
  4. Sap green and some fingerprint action made the edges slightly darker.
  5. I cut out paper hearts, printed the quote and the word, love, and stuck them in with gel medium.
  6. I used washi tape to divide both pages. Do not tangle with expensive Pigma Microns on this surface, use a cheaper Artline pen or a Sharpie as it destroys the tips of the Micron pens.
  7. Tangle carefully to avoid smudging. There are literally thousands of tangle patterns available on the web; the sky is literally the limit.

I like the simplicity of the finished page as most of the art journaling tutorials I watched were so overdone and involved stencils and stamps and paper and magazine cut outs and and and....
This was why the zentangles appealed to me. I hope you are inspired to try this, so relaxing and super fun.
The final result of the zentangle art journal entry
Thank you, Vanessa! Phew, that must have taken quite a bit of time and I know you enjoyed every moment.

If you like to use zentangles in your art journal, why not share them with me on Twitter with the #JournalArt2020, I would love to see what your creative results look like.

Until next time!
💜 Linzé

Sunday 5 January 2020

Blog Calendar: January and February

  Need a boost for a new book, artwork, blog post, or some other creative project? Or maybe an older project needs a bit more love? Give me a shout and I would love to help out. Rules and requirements -> here

  Reserved = my spot. I need some of my own time too 😜
  The hashtag shows the dates when #TheTinyBroom tweets. Pick your date right and get an extra boost with #TheTinyBroom.

  Oh, and it's first come, first choice, no exceptions! Thank you for understanding.



Remember to use the link here to send me the details. Replies to this post, or any other PMs and DMs will be ignored. Thank you!

Don't want to miss out on more news, special events, or discounts? Sign up to my newsletter - it only pops into your inbox once a month. Promise.

💜 Linzé

Friday 13 September 2019

Mindfulness Week: Flow state by Melissa Adendorff


When I started to think about how to engage with this topic, I wanted to bring my personal experience into it, because it is practically valuable and I use it daily, but I also wanted to speak about it on a more formal level, because it is a practical tool that has promise in terms of the wellbeing of vocational dancers. This is my current research focus, and I deal with it in practice as an NLP practitioner, but I also deal with it in the studio where I dance every day. My focus is on mindfulness in terms of performativity and bodily esteem … which culminated in tremendous personal triumphs, and highlighted a professional challenge second to none.
To contextualise this, technically, I’ve been researching the specific value of a preventative intervention in terms of body-esteem which addresses the prevalence of the development of anorexia nervosa and anorexia athletica in the vocational ballet community, in addition to this community’s propensity to normalise pain in order to achieve a higher standard of technique execution despite the increased risk of injury and increased anxiety around the ballet class experience, as reported in 33 peer-reviewed studies conducted between 1966 and 2013, including a study conducted in the South African context (Arcelus, Witcomb, & Mitchell, 2014).
And I could do only do this research because of my personal investment in ballet and my own ballet body, and that makes the research process mindful in itself, because I work in the liminal space between objectivity and subjectivity, and it allows me to take care with my analyses and applications of my learnings.
Now, while I’m wary of labels, if I have to put a name to the thing that got me here, it would be “mindfulness” … but I prefer to call it “flow”.
I like to call it “flow” because there’s a continuity to this state that moves through every one of my areas of function, from academics, to dancing, to work, to diet, to sleep hygiene, and my post-operative recovery, and it combines an awareness with a motive and an action, leading to a motion toward an achievable goal.
I started working with my personal flow state just after a knee surgery in 2018. For a while, my flow state meant straightening my leg, and focusing ALL of my attention and energy into just performing that act, in that moment. And then doing it again.
And, as hard as it may be to believe that, looking at me now (not to be boastful, but I’ve made quite a bit pf progress in just over a year), that took ALL of my focus and willpower and determination and motivation and drive and vision. To do something so simple.
I did not want to do the leg-straightening, because it was tremendous effort and tremendously painful. But, flow isn’t necessarily about wanting to do a thing, because desire and motivation invariably peter out.
Flow has a discipline component, and that’s why flow, or mindfulness is so valuable in ballet, because with awareness, I learn my limits, and I learn which limits I can push safely and which limits to respect … and this has filtered into my life in general – changing careers, studying again (after attaining a PhD), and going back to an active pursuit wherein I feel at home, and yet so out of place.
My flow state helped me make ballet home again …
That said, when I started this dancing endeavour, it required a lifestyle overhaul. Primarily because I set a lofty goal of passing vocational levels … Vocational levels are distinguished from general graded levels as Intermediate Foundation through to Advanced Level Two are internationally recognised tertiary-level qualifications which are strictly examined through structured assessments recognised by the United Kingdom’s Regulated Qualifications Framework (Royal Academy of Dance, 2016) allowing for workplace entry as professional dancers, teachers, and choreographers. These exams are serious, and attaining a vocational grade is a big deal.
Vocational dancing requires a rather surprising time sacrifice, and it requires daily effort, in terms of learning the syllabus, performing the syllabus adequately, conditioning, strengthening, and incorporating the RAD’s “CCCLSD” as a mindful component to all dancing practice (correct placement and posture, control, coordination, line, spatial awareness and engagement, and dynamics). This couples with dietary effort, to find the balance between sustenance, satisfaction, and performativity, and still working on building a dancer’s body and deconstructing the body that I had worked with until that point ... And that was hard for me, but again a flow state regarding food made it possible …
Now, I have heavy muscles, so going by the number on the scale, my achievement is not really anything to brag about, but I have managed to transform my shape from a bulky martial artist to that of dancer, moving from a bulkier build to leaner muscles, even if they are still heavy, and dropping three-ish dress sizes in about 18 months … this was also not what I wanted to do, because I am the embodiment of an emotional eater, and yet, with awareness, and discipline, and flow, I’ve been able to maintain a 500 calorie deficit every day since February last year.
It helps that with intensive training, I burn enough calories that I’m not starved and miserable, I’m just keenly aware that a slice of white bread slathered in butter and covered with another layer of peanut butter (that has both salt and sugar) and syrup, while delicious, would throw all my progress out of kilter, and flow keeps me on kilter. Because I can have a banting treat, which turns out is pretty good when it’s all you choose to have.
And this is important, because I still have an “other” ballet body … (Now I have done rather extensive research into the issue of the ballet body, eating behaviours, and the pressure of performativity, and I am working alongside the organisers of the South African International Ballet Competition and its International Ballet Intensive to address this within the next year). A whole other novel aspect of an other ballet body is my tattoo collection (that’s a story for another day), which I got to feature here with a smile alongside Taras Domitro (a spectacular dancer from Cuba).
This bit might get a little bit technical, again, but the technicality matters, and brings back the flow of personal discipline and personal achievements.
The culture of ballet discriminates against any body which does not fit its predetermined idea. (Nolan, 2011). This ideal is based on the aesthetic qualities of being physically slight and slim, with a long neck, a shorter torso, long legs which are not hyperextended or hyperflexible, long arms which are not overly muscular, and feet with sloping toes and high insteps.
Any deviation from this ideal potentially risks breaking the body line. Any body of any race will face discrimination if that body is perceived as “big” (Campbell, 2018), because while the bigger ballet body may be technically proficient, it breaks the body line and the line of the corps. This has a similar effect on the bigger ballet dancer as it has for the black ballet dancer where the perception of the “wrongness of body shape” affects the person’s worth in terms of her dancer identity (Campbell, 2018). Olivia Campbell (2018) explains that not being thin and slight enough leads to severe embarrassment and humiliation when a smaller, but less technically proficient dancer would have a successful audition, while a bigger dancer is rejected. This ultimately impacts the individual’s self-concept, as it renders her feeling that she is not good enough because of her anatomy (Campbell, 2018). 
Without flow, I would lose myself in the ideal, and while I have done a lot to reshape my fighter’s body into a ballet body, it is not within the ambit of the preferred aesthetic. And yet, I maintain my flow, and work with my body, because it has achieved so much in a short time, and it dances en pointe and turns and jumps and looks beautiful in flow state on the stage … and maintaining a positive bodily esteem is necessary for a healthy self-concept, and while mine is not quite perfect, it is healthier now than it has been in a long time, and that keeps me motivated to stay healthy in my body, while it is on display in a leotard and tights every day of the week.
And that is maintained by flow, because I can’t know what goes on in anyone else’s self-concept and bodily esteem, so there is no point comparing, especially in the ballet environment where competition comprises height (and, I shit you not, knee circumference).

On that, here is another technical bit, but one that mindfully contextualises why mindfulness (or flow) around bodily esteem is so important …
The positive subjective appraisal of one’s appearance (Smolak & Thompson, 2009) is vital for sustained wellbeing of an individual’s dancing practice, as the dancer’s body is contextually constructed from childhood into an embodied identity, based on public bodily presentation and “performativity” (Pickard, 2015, p. 8). This bodily construction forms the basis of stress-management and performance-management in vocational dance, as the discipline of ballet, and the habits of the ballet community, the necessary commitment to ballet practice necessary to pass vocational levels, and the competition within the ballet community to attain recognition from instructors, company directors, examiners, and choreographers create pressure to function within the meritocracy of the ballet community (Pickard, 2015).
This especially pertains to adolescent dancers, as the adolescent’s identity as a ballet dancer is in the process of determination while he/she undergoes physical, cognitive, and psychological development during puberty, all while being exposed to criticism and scrutiny (Pickard, 2015) by teachers, examiners, and directors in the attempt to construct a proficient vocational dance body.
What does this amount to? Research suggests that working with a foundational practice of mindfulness in dance, and the lifestyle surrounding dance, allows for healthy holistic development … 
Sensory acuity and physical self-awareness of proficiency and general physical wellbeing (Linkenauger, Wong, Guess, Stefanucci, McCulloch, Bülthoff, Mohler, & Proffitt, 2015) are required in correlation with emotional self-awareness in order to manage the stress and discipline of the ballet curriculum (that’s a lot of technical language for “flow”). This requires awareness in terms of subjective distress, pain, anxiety, and the behaviours which are engaged in order to manage these emotions and sensations (Pickard, 2015). Based on this awareness, it is possible to create skillsets around accurate self-assessment (Nadler, 2011) in order to allow the individual to check-in with herself/himself and to prevent harmful coping mechanisms from being reinforced, especially in terms of preventing the normalisation of pain, and the normalisation of restrictive dieting to meet the balletic aesthetic requirements.
Flow keeps me going in a class where I am seen to be in competition with every other dancer on the floor (and every other dancer is at least 15 years my junior, in peak physical condition, and good), because when I focus on myself and my technique, I am able to count my victories. After an ACL reconstruction and meniscus debridement, in August 2018, I have managed to master a vocational syllabus to the point that I can be put up for examination. And pass. At 33, with an older and a little bit of a broken body (there have been ankle injuries and some noodle ligaments, and other bits that don’t really work as well as they used to), and I have to keep sight of what is “my” good, and my accomplishments. Every day.
If I didn’t do that, ballet would become unbearable, because of the nature of the beast that is the hypercompetitive world of vocational dance. 
My daily flow follows this basic trajectory … consistent time in getting up and a set morning routine – If I have a morning class, then I start the day with a stretching and limbering routine because my leg struggles to get going sometimes, and I have a breakfast that I know will keep me going ill lunch time, even if I am dancing. Whether I’m dancing, working, or going to an academic class, my discipline remains the same – and the flow is in the discipline. I don’t deviate from the plan, but the plan remains flexible. From ballet, I either go to work, or to an academic class, and then back to the studio, and again, I am disciplined in this. I don’t feel like it every day, but I know the benefit of following through. So I do, and I make progress, and hat keeps me flowing. And then I come home, and spend the quality time that I have left with my fiancé and the cats, and I sleep, and I get up and I do it again. It’s is a simple routine, but it is full, and fulfilling. And flow keeps it fulfilling because it gives me pause to reflect and count my victories and acknowledge my perseverance and dedication. 
Part of that reflection happens when I’m processing big thoughts or feelings, and then I blog about them, or use them as impetus for a research topic … I oscillate between personal and technical writing, even when they come to the same conclusions in different registers. I often blog before a ballet class, because it centres my thoughts and intentions. And energy flows where attention goes, as directed by intention, according to Michael Hall (2006).

About Melissa
Dr Melissa Adendorff is currently an NLP practitioner and performance coach, an aspiring returned vocational ballet dancer and instructor, and a student registered counsellor. This follows on from an established career in academia, with close to a decade of lecturing, course coordination, and curriculation, local and international conference presentations, journal article publications, and the completion of a doctorate focused on critical spatiality and bodily spatiality. 
Melissa’s current research focus is based on wellbeing and performativity in the vocational balletic paradigm, focusing on psychoeducation for dancers, their parents, and their teachers in order to prevent harmful behaviours including disordered eating and the normalisation of pain.




References for the technical bits of the post
Arcelus, J., Witcomb, G.L., & Mitchell, A. (2014). Prevalence of eating disorders amongst dancers: A systemic review and meta-analysis. European eating disorders review22(2), 92-101.
Campbell, O. (2018, May 28). 'She's good but she's big': My years as a 'fat' ballerina. The Guardian.Retrieved fromhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/28/shes-good-but-shes-big-my-
years-as-a-fat-ballerina
Hall, L.M. (2006). Meta-NLP®– Accelerated NLP training. Clifton, OC: NSP – Neuro- Semantics Publications.
Linkenauger, S.A., Wong, H.Y., Guess, M., Stefanucci, J.K., McCulloch, K.C., Bülthoff, H.H.,Mohler, B.J., & Proffitt, D.R. (2015). The perceptual homunculus: The perception of the relative proportions of the human body. Journal of experimental psychology: General, 144(1), 103-115.
Nadler, R.S. (2011). Leading with emotional intelligence: Hands-on strategies for building confident and collaborative star performers. New York: McGraw Hill.
Nolan, B. (2011, July 20). The ideal ballet body. DANCE informa: Australian edition. Retrieved fromhttps://dancemagazine.com.au/2011/07/the-ideal-ballet-body/
Pickard, A. (20150. Ballet body narratives: Pain, pleasure and perfection in embodied identity. Oxford: Peter Lang.
Royal Academy of Dance. (2016). Specification: RAD level 2 and level 3 certificate in vocational graded examination in dance: Intermediate foundation and intermediate (ballet).London: Examinations Department; Royal Academy of Dance.
Smolak, L., & Thompson, J.K. (Eds). (2009). Body image, eating disorders, and obesity in youth: Assessment, prevention, and treatment(2nded.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Theme reveal: My A-to-Z blog challenge 2024

  It's been a while since I have taken part in the blog challenge. The problem is always coming up with new ideas so it isn't boring...