After two months without rain, we have are reminded of the amazing weather Melbourne has on a regular basis. Picture 27 degrees one day, 34 degrees the next then a massive thunderstorm, huge temperature change and torrential rain for hours!!! I'm very happy to say that it gives me an opportunity to wear my fabulous Alaskan Mukluks*, with a miniskirt!!! That's Melbourne!!!

I'm plagued by a few things over the past few days. Maybe its withdrawal from the magnificent Crystal Harmony, maybe its just bad luck but I've just run into a few really mean and nasty people lately and it disturbs me.

Mean and Nasty People
I just cant understand why some people seem to get through life with happiness, joy and a sense of pleasantness, even despite the bad times that happen to all of us. And then there are people who are just plain mean and cant find pleasure in anything, you know the type, people that find it hard to smile, have a strained expression on their face most of the time and seem irritable at the smallest things.

Its hard being around these people when we have so much happiness and joy in our lives. It makes the contrast even more obvious and even less desirable. It makes the choice to BE happy even easier when you see people absolutely, perpetually miserable.

So I figure the happier you are, the happier the people are around you, the less you can tolerate unhappiness and nastiness. Therefore it creates an even stronger desire to share yourself with the happiest people.

The other thing that surprises me is how people remain mean all their lives. I see life as an evolutionary process and I make the assumption that if you're unhappy, you will see it, you will take steps to make yourself happy and then you will become happy.

Last night I ran into a woman from my past, actually from my first real job. 20 years ago she was just downright mean, nasty and never happy with anything. (unless she was intoxicated). As Paul and I were enjoying ourselves at our first night back on a social salsa dancefloor, we ran into this woman. Not only was she mean and nasty to us but she went out of her way to be mean and nasty to everyone. For no apparent reason. The sad thing is, at least she was happy when she drunk (20 years ago) but she was drunk last night and sad to say, she was far from happy.

I just wanted to grab her, shake her and tell her that life is soooooo short, precious moments happening right now will never happen again. Precious people around you will only be there for a portion of your life, enjoy every moment while you can because life changes, people go and experiences change.

But if I've learned one thing about drunks, its not to try and reason with them, certainly when they are being aggressive. So I smiled at her and blocked out her negative energy.

Happiness is a choice, not a co-incidence - its within our control

Crazy People on the Dancefloor
How long I have looked forward to going out, just Paul and I, having a social dance with my salsa friends back home. Boy have I missed social dancing. So off we headed to a 6 star hotel, fighting our way through the torrential rain, a long 1 hour drive, no parking within a few blocks.... but we were excited and nothing could kill our spirit.

We got there, it was fabulous to say hi to everyone, big hugs, great energy. We hopped onto the floor and kick, a ladies stiletto in my foot, bash... a guy thumping into my back, whack an erratic hand coming into our dance space. Paul did a fabulous job of protecting me and moving our dance to avoid these crazy dancers. But, they were so erratic and didnt understand the concept of "dance space" that they just keep bumping into us and everyone else.

It wouldnt be that bad if these people were swept away in the moment, having so much fun that they forgot themselves and were lost in the joys of dance. But they actually were aggressive, they were "marking their territory" they were actively pursuing people to remove them from the floor. Some of them were just chaotic and didnt know what was happening, but some were deliberate. I was shocked, dismayed and very disappointed.

What happened to respecting another couples dance space?
When did social dancing become antisocial?

My hope is that dance teachers ensure their students are aware of "dance space" and their students develop a healthy level of respect for other people on the dancefloor. Without this education at the basic level, the global momentum in the partner dance industry is at risk at a social level.

Note*Mukluks are Alaskan cold weather boots with a firm synthetic sole that keeps your feet warm and dry down to -30!! Mine are particularly handsome, they are black goatskin, very attractive indeed :-)