Three shocking lessons 2021 has taught me
I´m not going to lie:
The year of 2021 has knocked me down. Not out, but down.
Down is the opposite of up, down and up being the two faces of the same coin, and we can only go up when we´re down. So, I´m fine. The Wheel is turning for all of us, independently of our awareness of it, and I dance upon mine with champagne, strawberries, and laughter on the side.
In this post, something I wrote primarily for myself and then, for you, I´m sharing 3 shocking lessons 2021 has taught me. I hope they inspire you; I hope they help you prepare, somehow, for the year that is arriving.
Ready to take off?
1,2,3, GO!
Lesson #1
"Amazing things can come from tragic events, injustice, and evilness"
When the Black List s"#$%w storm hit me, I was dumbfounded - a group of "ladies" had created a secret list of dancers/teachers/event organizers they wanted to take down, harm, and boycott for reasons like "not choosing me for the gala show", "not wearing a mask", "voting for Trump", "inviting dancer X to his festival" or, in my case, for "telling a hater who left an offensive comment on my Youtube channel to sod off".
These sad bunch had been working in the background, as cowards do, to harm, as much as they could, some of the best professionals in the Egyptian Dance field. Myself included. Personally, I didn´t care much because I knew my name was carved in stone, built from more than 20 years of relentless high-level work, both in Egypt and around the world, but I wasn´t going to let them have their fun without striking back.
I had my Facebook Fan Page, with more than 70.000 followers and more than 10 years of material from my personal and professional life, reported as "fraud", blocked, and hacked. At some point, there were cinema marathons happening inside my page, and I laughed. I had to.
I also had my personal profile and the page of my school reported and my ability to post blocked for a while, and I saw my name associated with racism.
I had no idea people could be so evil, nonsensical, envious and unfair; I also had no idea how much free time a lot of those folks have on their hands.
It got ugly. One of my students and sponsors, a lady called Heather Henna Louise, from Portland, someone who knew me well, a dancer who had hosted me twice in her town, taken private classes with me and several of my Courses at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School, got as far as calling me a racist and claiming, and I quote, "people of color don´t feel safe around you" in a desperate attempt to gain sympathy from potential new clients. I told her that money isn´t more important than integrity and businesses which are built upon lies and dirty competition strategies won´t stand the test of time; I also informed her I´d reported her name, contact, and address to the Police of Portland under the charges of defamation, harassment, and cyber bullying.
My heart was broken but I was not.
I searched for the guilty parts behind the Black List but they went hiding like mice. That, in itself, told us everything we needed to know. Whoever tells the truth, shows their face; the ones who know they´re doing something right are not afraid of speaking out and backing up their beliefs.
Instead of keeping quiet, I went loud and clear about the subject of cyber bullying and a cancel culture which is, most of the time, coming from the envy, the hatred, and the frustration of the ones who cannot succeed and, therefore, wish to destroy the ones who can.
I gathered our dance community - based on love, open and intelligent conversations and the truth -, I recorded a say-it-as-it-is video on my Youtube Channel ( watch it, here ), I organized an open event to discuss the Black List and the real reasons behind its creation; I invited some of the supporters of the Black List - none showed up - and I reached out, personally, to African American dancers who claimed to be a target of racism within the Egyptian Dance field - most didn´t show up; a couple of them did and added a precious contribution to the discussion.
Instead of ripping each others´ hair - a hobby that, I discovered, a lot of women love to indulge in, to my surprise -, I created a space where people could tell the truth. Their truth. A space of mutual respect, deep listening, and unity.
From this mess, I gained a new perspective - more realistic, less naive - about different layers of our Egyptian Dance community around the world; new friends, colleagues, students, connections. I ended up meeting amazing women I´d never heard about and launching the proposal of a new way of connecting with each other: a connection of mutual support, empowerment, and love. I rethought the purpose and messaging of my brand - Joana Saahirah´s World - and made the conscious decision of making it even more inclusive.
I grew immensely, personally and professionally, from the nonsense and I reminded myself that, if we act with integrity and courage, life gives back. If we fight the darkness with light, light prevails.
Pearl to be taken into 2022:
Don´t label events as good or bad. Events are what you make of them. Stuff that we consider a "blessing" can easily turn into a nightmare and stuff we´re afraid of, things that shock and hurt us, can easily be turned into opportunities, super powers, new doors.
As I often tell my students, in my Private Coaching & at Joana Saahirah´s Online Dance School, "the things that happen to us don´t define us, what we make of the things that happen to us, do".
Lesson #2
"We can be sad and happy at the same time (and that´s o.k)"
I don´t own a television and I don´t have time for, or interest in, the news. I´m aware that journalism, for the most part, has lost its ethics and the media is at the service of the corporations that rule the world; I´m also aware that Governments are the servants of those corporations and when we vote, we´re only voting for the puppets who are fulfilling the plans and wishes of the invisible big shots who are actually running the show - and, by show, I mean "our economy, our laws, our rights, our life".
( for more information about this Puppet Show, watch the genius movie "Don´t Look Up" - click HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION )
Yet, I have a very well informed man, family, and group of friends. I´m also not living under a rock, or in a cave at the top of the Himalaya so, I can´t be unaware of what´s happening around me.
I´ve witnessed, with equal amounts of worry and anger, how we´ve been collectively manipulated, controlled, asphyxiated through economy and the "supposed" protection of our well-being, and turned into well behaved automatons. I, just like you, have tasted the sour flavor of isolation, fear, and permanent uncertainty. I´ve seen what it does to my nervous system, my heart, and my life.
At some point, I had to ask myself: do I even have the right to feel happy and grateful, considering the mess our world is in?
I felt guilty if I smiled; I felt ashamed if I admitted these two last years have been a period of amazing growth for me, both personal and professional; I felt bad if I dared to celebrate my relationships, my success, my growth, my joy.
And, then, it hit me: I can be sad and happy at the same time; I can feel bad - angry and anxious - about the direction we´re being lead to while I dance, love, work, and believe in the possibility of a bright future; I can be down, one day, and up the other; I can mourn my losses while I celebrate my victories; I can be revolted at injustice and, simultaneously, touched by the beauty and the kindness that also exists in our world.
We, humans, are not this or that. We´re this and that - light and darkness. So is the life we´ve been given.
Pearl to be taken into 2022:
Allow yourself to be fully human with all the contradictions that it entails; you can, and probably should, be happy and sad simultaneously; you can, and probably should, mourn your losses while celebrating your victories; you can, and probably should, feel revolted by the darkness while being an agent of light.
You can feel trapped and liberated; you can be sure you´re dying and, simultaneously, reborn.
Lesson #3
"Self-Empowerment often means embracing your fragility"
Limitations are not my cup of tea. I know they´re there because I do enough, more than enough, and doers come, invariably, face to face with limitations but I never liked them.
I´m the girl who´ll cheer you up, remind you that you got this, hold your hand while you´re challenging yourself, yell-sing-whisper "you can do everything you put your mind, heart and work into" into your ears. I´m "that" girl.
But...and here´s a long, annoyingly heartfelt, but. But 2021 has taught me that I have limits - limits of time, limits of energy, limits of focus, limits of how much I can take in a day. Limits.
This year, I found myself in the hospital emergency room. Not once, not twice, not thrice. Frequently. I - the proud woman who, in her entire life, had been only once in a hospital; the one who´s never sick, not even a cold, or was ever injured, or operated, or medicated - had my pride stomped and smashed on the floor. Out of sheer exhaustion.
I had to come to terms with my limits and, strangely or not, that empowered me. It took me back to where it all started: me.
Taking care of myself, going slower, relaxing through the trials and tribulations, becoming a professional pruner - staying away from everything and everyone that doesn´t add value to my life - , learning how to say "no", and indulging, consistently, in much deserved rest isn´t only an acknowledgment of my limits but an act of self-love and empowerment.
I didn´t know that. For a long while, I felt that in order to be a super woman - which, in my head, I am - I had to be on 24/7, 365 days per year, creating and exhaling at the top of my game. I had no idea that curling up in bed with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate could be the fiercest thing I could do. Now, I do. If I´m here for the long run, and if I want to enjoy myself on the way up, I better admit I´m only human and act accordingly.
Pearl to be taken into 2022:
Non-action can be the most productive thing you can do.
Power can often look like fragility.
When you´re thrown to the floor, due to health issues, heartache or any other punch, you´re not necessarily defeated - you just happen to be on the floor, momentarily.
We, humans, have an unlimited potential - we´re powerful co-creators with infinite possibilities ahead of us - and limited resources - our time, energy, and focus are limited; we have a fuel tank to be spent, daily, that must be restored, cleaned, and given the proper care.
Self-Empowerment doesn´t equal non-stop effort, work, and interaction with the outside world. Self-Empowerment starts with taking care of our selves - preserving and strengthening the machine that will make all of our dreams come true.
Balance action with stillness; exhaling with inhaling; know that your worth is not defined by how much you do but by who you are - your character and heart, the quality of your thoughts and actions.
This is it, for now.
If you´re interested in Self-Empowerment, the actual reality of it, in ways that truly change you, your dance, and your life, consider joining our NEW, once in a year, 30-Day Challenge "Change Your Life with Egyptian Dance" happening from the 20th of January until the 20th of February 2022.
Subscriptions are NOW OPENED and they close, soon.
If you miss this 2nd edition, you´ll have to wait until January 2023 to join the next.
Don´t miss this train, baby. Catch it, now.
Click HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT OUR 30-DAY CHALLENGE
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