Why I’ve decided to stop doing pointe…

Hello all! Today I’ll be telling you all about my recent decision to stop doing pointe for this year.(🩰)

First off, I’ll give you all a little of my pointe history!

I’ve been en pointe for almost 4 years now. It has always been a struggle for me, because of my insanely flexible feet and ankles. I have used 9pairs of pointe shoes plus the 2 pairs that I bought and could not use because they weren’t right for my feet. (Those are the ones I use for photo shoots haha)

I never really got the hang of pointe; I pretty much was too scared to try any of the more advanced things. But the times when I did, I ended up twisting my ankle etc. and it always felt like I almost broke my foot! It came to a pointe (haha pun intended) where I was so concerned about my safety that I wasn’t improving, and wasn’t enjoying the challenge anymore.

After not being able to find the right pair of pointe shoes that would work for my unique feet, I pretty much just stuck to doing pointe at the barre and then took my shoes off. It felt like a large amount of money for no improvement and lots of frustration. It was also frustrating seeing all the other girls excel in pointe, and then seeing myself not improve at all.

So this year I’m deciding to at least take a break from pointe. During class time, my frustration and concern for safety, stole from me dancing for Jesus, my Savior and King.

I absolutely LOVEEEE watching other women dance en pointe (especially those who I take class with!)!!!! It’s so beautiful and graceful!! But for me I think I at least need to take a break this year. Just because my pointe journey hasn’t fully worked out for me, doesn’t mean I don’t have any experience and can’t give advice or tips. In fact, having not had great success with my own pointe journey makes me want to help others even more!

The reason I’ve been debating whether to take a break for so long (like all of last year and into this year) is because in the ballet world, part of being a “good dancer” is being en pointe. I’ve struggled with the thought of others seeing me as not a good dancer anymore, solely because I don’t do pointe. If you didn’t already know this about me, I care a lot (subconsciously) about what those around me think of me. This is something I have been working on and am continuing to!

If you struggle with that as well, know this:

The only one whose opinion has mattered, and will ever matter, is God’s. That’s why we need to strive to live for Him and not others. Us as flawed humans tend to see and point out other peoples flaws and mistakes. That’s because we are born into the sinful nature of this world. But God has such a different view of us, because He doesn’t just look at the outward appearance like we do. He looks on the inside, at the heart. He sees what those around us do not! And We are His creation, created in His image, and created to be in fellowship with Him!

He has seen every flaw, every mistake. But that doesn’t matter to Him because Jesus Christ died and payed the debt for our sins! He loves us with an unconditional love. One that will never change.

He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:10-12

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Thank for reading this post, I hope it was an encouragement in some small way! This is me finishing this post about 3 weeks after I started writing it, and I haven’t been doing pointe for those 3 weeks and can say that when I dance, my heart is more focused on bringing Him the Glory and the praise!

If you have any questions on anything ballet related, or just anything in general, I’d love to answer them and talk with y’all in the comments below!