The Shower Fairy

 

Kathleen McBrien, one of my Belly Dancing Teachers

“Ah, the shower fairy”, Kathleen said.

I was washing my hair when, from seemingly out of nowhere, in my mind I saw the “L” shaped lever on the pump to our well.

If the pump stops working for some reason, the water in our house stops running.  So I go into the basement and move the shiny metal “L” shaped lever down.  That kicks the pump back into action and the water starts flowing again.

The week before in my Bellydancing class I found myself in the position of leading a dance trio and not knowing how to get out of the lead position.  So there I was, like the girl in  “The Red Shoes” repeating the only movement I could remember in my panic, unable to stop.

I should tell you, the type of Belly dancing I’m learning is called ATS (American Tribal Style). It’s improvisational not choreographed.  There’s always one person, whether it’s a duet or a line of ten dancers that is leading and everyone else follows them.  And the leader is always changing.  There are ways of making that change, of making a dance move that allows someone else to take the lead.

That was the problem I was having.  I wanted to stop being the leader, but I couldn’t remember what to do to make that happen.

Until I was taking a shower the next day, and I saw in my mind,  that “L” shaped pump lever slowly moving down.  Because that’s just what I could have done with my arms to get out of the lead.

I was stuck in a move called The Egyptian, my upper arms straight out from my shoulders and my forearms  at a right angle pointing up.  To stop doing the Egyptian and signal to my dance partners that I was changing positions,  I could have lowered my forearms so my hands were pointing out from my body instead of up.  Then I could turn and offer the lead to someone else.

When I told Kathleen in class the next week about the “L” shaped pump lever, she completely got it.

She got the idea of my visual and how ideas often  come to us in the shower.

I think when the mind finally gets to rest a little, the brain is able to work things out in a way we can’t consciously.  Like dreaming, the mind makes sense of the things that we have a hard time understanding.

Kathleen said that those kinds of visuals, especially when we come to them ourselves, are really important and helpful in dancing.  Both Kathleen and Julz, my Bellydancing teachers, often use visuals when explaining a dance move.  (I always start to get hungry when Julz talks about “walking around the crust of a pizza” to describe a move she calls the ballerina in the jewelry box).

It felt big to me when I had that visual in the shower.  Like what I’ve been learning shifted into a new realm.  That I’m beginning to embody the dance instead of just mimicking what I’m seeing

Now, I can actually imagine that being a Bellydancer is a real possibility for me.

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “The Shower Fairy

  1. Love your Shower Fairy! In all the years of both studying and practicing metaphysics it seems like everyone has a shower story. It’s such a place of cleansing and opening (sometimes to the Divine) that so many ideas are able to manifest while we are standing there in the healing, cleansing waters. Water is amazing and the shower is an easy place to call in and talk to Guidance or at least to be open to it as you certainly are.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    1. When I’m showering Linda, I often think “I’m bathing in the healing waters of Jackson” (Jackson is the official name of the town we live in). Hydro therapy…..

  2. Dear Maria, I love this story! Visuals do not come naturally to me; and as much as I love dance, I don’t think I could ever get the motor memory and visualization right. But I enjoy reading about your progress!! And thanks so much for all the archives on your Blog. I’ve been babysitting my grandchildren in NC again. I sure do look forward to catching up by reading all your back posts when I get back from my two weeks with them! Annie

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