Mirrorball Mindfulness : Inspired Movement and Meditation and Talks

I tell this story to the adolescents I work with as a school social worker trying to help teenagers navigate the storms of their lives, so I may as well share it with the internet as well. 

Back in high school, I remember hearing about a girl who was moving to town who was an Abercrombie and Fitch model who wanted to become a country music star. Growing up outside of Nashville, Tennessee, “I’d heard this story before” and the ending never seemed to turn out the way people would expect. My grandfather was / is a country music legend, and so, I should have known better than to underestimate someone with a dream in country music. 

After all, he and his brother had fought through much harsher conditions in the 1950s to keep their dream alive. Who was I to underestimate a young girl with a dream?  

Apparently, those dots hadn’t connected yet for me, and my jealousy over wanting to be one of the popular girls remained front and center. This girl named Taylor came to my high school my Junior year and by my senior year, she was having Cameras follow her around, missing school to pursue her music career, and generally “making it” by all standards. Instead of being excited for her, my jealousy turned into resentment and I even went so far as to thinking she wasn’t going to “make it” must past her first album release. After all, how hard can it be to get an album released if you know the right people? Anyone can release a single album. I was deeply stuck in a very different mindset in 2006 than I am in 2021.  

In 2006, I didn’t know who I wanted to be. I didn’t know what I could become.  I had no clue what I actually wanted because I was growing up in a narrative that prescribed who women were, what religion (and therefore lifestyle) was “right” and taught me that all else was a False God. I was deeply connected to the Southern Evangelical Church, didn’t date boys in high school who didn’t go to my church because I didn’t want to be “secular” and I thought that girls like Taylor were “stuck up” for thinking they could be musicians in high school. I was rooted in a mindset that preached that school mattered above all else and second to school was Youth Group. I believed that “dreaming was for the sinners” and that dancing would cause me to go to Hell. I was told by the Youth Group leaders that listening to music by “Secular Musicians” would cause me to stumble and that it was kewl to be a Jesus Freak.

Because my grandfather was a Country Gospel Legend in the Hall of Fame, no matter what “they” said, I made an exception for country music. So, Taylor was okay musically, but who did she think she was coming in and flaunting herself like this. After all, women exist to be partners to men, not to stand out on their own…. Or so I was led to believe.

15 years later, my only regret in life is underestimating Taylor Swift. I tell this to groups of teenagers at the beginning of my 3 day Workshop on Suicide Prevention, Mental Health, and Healthy Relationships not (only) to gain their attention and trust with a fun story laden in vulnerability and transparency, but to remind them that you can be anyone you want to be and it’s never too early to start chasing your dreams.  

If 2020 taught us anything, life is precious. Live your dreams, chase them wholeheartedly (thanks Brene), and follow the advice of badasses who heard who they were supposed to be and owned the story of themselves by living fearlessly.

In the coming months, I’ll be recording and offering Yoga Classes inspired by Taylor Swift, Brene Brown, Dolly Parton, and the legacy of my grandfather - Charlie Louvin. If you’re interested in these classes, paying me to come talk to a group of teenagers about the topics above, more write-ups like this, or just want to connect and write help me share my gifts with the universe, join my email list and connect with me on Social Media @unbrokencircles.  

Don’t underestimate yourself.  

Don’t underestimate others chasing their dreams.

Be who you are.