Talk about commitment

My work life has been very stressful lately. I'm working mostly 6 day weeks, with a couple of dance commitments a week. I finally managed to engineer a shift swap with a coworker so I have one more night free and can finally take a class with Shems. I'm also trying to set up a private lesson with a local ATS certified teacher so I can brush up on my ATS skills and have some questions answered. That one's going to be tricky because she lives about 45 minutes away from me. I was feeling a little whiny about that drive, until I overheard a dancer last night in class. She lives in Delaware, but every Thursday she is driving down to Baltimore to take two classes. She said there is nothing in her area that is quite what she wants, so she is dealing with the drive (I think about an hour and a half on a good day) and considering it "her" night out.

I was really impressed, listening to her. So many of us (and I've done this) complain about having to drive to classes that are not close to us. It is hard to deal with this in an urban or congested suburban area, and it is hard to take the time from our busy schedules. I admit I am always amazed to hear from dancers who are traveling hours to take a class, who sometimes have to commit one entire weekend to travel and dance study because they have no local opportunities. It makes my own dance "problems" seem pretty minor.