Dancing into the Light in 2025
I said goodbye to a very dear elder of mine over the holidays. My Great Aunt Elaine passed away peacefully on Christmas Day. She was 96 years old and, up until ten days prior, when she had a stroke, she'd still been living independently and hosting parties, including cooking a Thanksgiving turkey for her friends last month. One of the last meals we cooked together, when I visited in November, was lobster tails sautéed in butter and lemon and paired with blanched asparagus.
Elaine was an amazing woman right up to the end, an inspiration to me and countless others.
She was a dancer most of her life, as well as a nationally recognized choreographer and teacher. She opened a ballet school, created three dance companies, and designed the dance program for the University of Toledo. She was creative through and through.
Vivacious, fierce, funny, persistent, wild, and curious, her take on modern dance drew on spirituality, anthropology, pop culture, and the human potential movement. She loved and encouraged everyone she met, though she didn't suffer fools gladly.
She moved through life with grace and determination. She died that way too.
I will be unravelling her legacy over the coming year(s). I am determined to honor her memory by living her lessons. Her life was movement, and she moved through the world moving others with her wisdom and passion for all life had to offer. She believed in the human being in all its fullness. And I intend to dance into the new year carrying her light.
This past week I've had to call many people to tell them she's gone, and several have responded to my news with spontaneous sobbing. She had that kind of impact on others. They felt her love. The light of her body may have gone out, but each of us touched by her carries it within and can choose to let her spirit burn brightly through our own hearts.
My great aunt lived a full, creative life. And though this note to you on this last day of the year isn't so much about writing, it is about celebrating how a life devoted to creativity is a life of love of your chosen practice and of loving everyone and everything you come into contact with.
If you have en elder in your life who inspires you, spend time with them. If they're gone already, call on their spirit to be an ancestor. And become such a person if you can. Pass on the light of your love and creativity to as many people as you can. Share your gifts as often and as freely as you can.
As we enter this new year, more light and love will be called for. Each of you holds a bright, creative spark in your hearts. Let it burn with a passion. Let it guide your way.