The Next Great Adventure

So many of you may think that this is an April fool’s prank but I swear to you that it is not! I just realized today that I have failed to make a post on facebook or a blog or anything about this yet. So I am doing so now.

After an amazing year in Washington DC filled with adventures, learning experiences and fun I am pleased to announce my next great adventure.I have had an absolutely amazing time out here Working at Dance Place as the office manager, as well as working as an outreach hip hop teacher for high schools and preschools. I also have had wonderful opportunities to preform with different groups out here including Clancyworks Dance company and The Playground company. But come this summer it is time for me to move on.
I was battling many decisions some of which were teaching for an amazing studio back home, staying in DC and getting myself out there as a performer, go on a church mission, or continuing on and get my Masters to be a DMT (Dance Movement Therapist). I still plan to do many of these options in one way or another but only one was the winner for me right here and right now.

 

I have made the decision to go on a Mission! :) I am hoping to get my call by my 22^nd birthday but we will see what happens. This decision has been a really long time coming and after

an awful battle of do I go or do I not, I have made the decision to go.

I still hope I will be able to teach a master class or two for the studio at home, or eventually becoming a permanent member or their staff but that is not in my cards for this moment in time. I have also discovered during my time in DC that I love and miss performing. I would love to be on a company when I come home, or choreograph for a company. Both options would make me very happy :) The final choice that did not make the cut at this time is my masters. But believe me when I say it is very much so still on the table. I am just putting a new label on it, one that reads 2015-2018. Wow that sounds weird. But I am determined to get my masters, when the time is right.

For now I will be taking the option of serving a mission. I started seriously thinking about this decision last June, but I didn’t want to go. It was more like the idea of a mission was slowly creeping in on me when I was just starting to get my post-grad life plan together. So I ignored the promptings called off a wedding, graduated college, went on tour with my dance company, and moved to DC. A lot of changes happened and I liked it that way. As long as I kept myself busy I couldn’t face the truth that I was running away from what my heart truly wanted. The idea of a mission frightened me so much because there is so much room for failure.  (At least there is in my mind).

I was afraid that I would lose my opportunities and abilities to dance if I went on a mission. I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to afford a mission with my student loans having to be paid back. Most of all I was afraid of all of the things I would miss in my life by leaving for 18 months. Life events meaning the birth of nieces/ nephews, sibling’s weddings, possibly my mom’s graduation, events that I really want to be a part of. I was so torn up inside trying to make everyone happy by making the right decision that I was blinded. My family loves me and I am sure they would love to have me at their important life events but the decision to go on a mission is about my life.  My decision, my happiness. And by trying to stay when I knew I needed to go was making me miserable. One night though 5 words slipped out of my mouth and made my decision so easy. In the middle of watching a movie by myself I just said “ I’m going on a mission”. After that the decision was quite easy.

In my undergrad program I took a class called teaching techniques and we learned all about how to be a good teacher. We read a book called The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer. In that book he discusses the inner teacher and the guidance that it offers. Within many religions including mine there is an inner teacher. This inner teacher is known to many as the Holy Ghost.  There is one part of the book that has stuck with me long after reading it and it is about fighting one’s inner teacher. He wrote about how the inner teacher guides us and helps us find the path that is best suited for us but that if we refuse to listen to our inner teacher it may become violent to the point of destruction. Meaning our inner teacher will fight so hard for us to listen that we cause ourselves to go into a state of depression. I really believe this is what happened to me for refusing to listen to my inner teacher for so long.

Ever since I made the decision to go on a mission I no longer feel conflict in my life. I am not worried about dance, grad school, money, or job opportunities. I know that things will work out in God’s timing and that I will be blessed for my service. If I am meant to share my artistic talents that God has given me I will be able to do so long after my mission.

I know this post is very long and I am sorry. I just wanted to let my friends and family all know about my next exciting life decision and how that decision came to be. J Anyways, have a wonderful day and thanks for reading. Love-

(The Future) Sister Franzen