"Life is already gorgeous"

We move into 2024 dancing in gratitude

I wanted this post to be a mosaic of voices saying thank you for what is already precious in our lives.

So…

Gratitude mosaic

Here is Reverend Hans Peter Meyer sharing what makes him notice everything.

We hear the Argentine tango dancer Amparo Ferrari saying thank you to life for being here already with all its beauty.

The author Aydan Dunnigan, from Canada, is grateful for having nurtured primal-instinctual rhythms in his dance.

The choreographer and tango teacher Andrea Martinez reminds us of the need to appreciate the people we have in our lives.

For me, 2023 is the year where I cultivated acceptance and found an unexpected harvest.

Stay attuned

Jesus S. Acosta

Slowing down
Rev. Hans Peter Meyer, author, tango teacher and yoga coach

On stillness: "Nothing needs doing. Everything is worthy of sitting with, being still with. So today is about being like a stone. Not cold and unfeeling, but vibrations so still and subtle that I am able and willing to notice and appreciate life as it flows around me, through me."

Life is already gorgeous
Amparo Ferrari, tango dancer and teacher

On gratitude: "Gratitude is energy. A force that motivates us to give the best of ourselves, because it recognises all the good that is in our lives. An energy that heals the fears that prevent us from living fully. To be grateful for the meeting, for the hug, for the Tango. For learning, for pleasure, for the discovery of dancing Tango."

Nurturing the inner dancer
Aydan Dunnigan, author & tango teacher

On peace: "Peace is not a static state of agreement, conformity or uniformity.  Nor is it winner-takes-all, beating the other into submission.  There are no winners and losers. Neither has capitulated to the other. The differences are not compromised or homogenized but respected and acknowledged throughout the process. There is no powering over. Rather it is a commitment to stay with the divergences, listening to each other with non-judgement and attentiveness."

People we have in our lives
Andrea Martinez, tango dancer and teacher

On the embrace: "Every time we choose what is beautiful, every time we listen to the birds sing, plant a seed, smile at our reflection in the mirror, cough up a prayer, hold a hand, we are adding to the good. We are serving the world. We are dancing."

Dancing with men
Jesus Sergio Acosta, dancer and embodiment coach

On men: "When I started trusting myself, when I started accepting my nature, my softness, my way of being -whole, incomplete, autonomous or needy- is when I started appreciating men around me. It is when I started seeing them with compassion, instead of judgment."