I meant to write something about this year's Nobel Prize for physiology, announced yesterday (10/8/12). But I won't go into details here. There will be better articles everywhere soon.
In short, developmental biologist and pioneer stem cell researcher Dr. Gurdon, and Dr. Yamanaka who discovered a (surprisingly simple) way to reprogram differentiated cells (such as skin cells) to stem cells, they share the prize. Their work had such a huge impact on the research field. It had been rumored for a while that their work, especially Dr. Yamanaka's, would get the Nobel Prize. It has come true, and I am very happy for them.
Last weekend I went to Tulsa to attend a West Coast Swing event, Tulsa Fall Fling. It is a nice small-sized event, and I enjoyed dancing with friends and watching friends dance.
There were excellent dancers and there were dancers who looked like beginners. I just used the expression "dancers who looked like beginners", because the way a dancer looks does not necessarily correlate with how long they've danced or whether they are actually beginning. No matter how long you dance, if your way of dancing looks like that of beginners, your dance level would be that of beginners.
Dancing is an ephemeral live art, and is somewhat cruel, too.
One thing I thought at the event by looking at dancers of different levels, or appearances, was that "Good dancers are basically dancers with good habits".
I saw some champion dancers dance. Even in a social dance setting, they dance well and they look outstanding. If you keep watching, you start noticing their habits. They have their default body usage or moves they do. Holding an arm here this way, bending a knee in that angle for balancing for the spin, hijacking and walking around playfully...those kind of things. And they look balanced, responsive and overall better than dancers who don't do these.
If you think this way, you can formulate how YOU would develop good dance habits and look good.
For example; Imitating an instructor's demonstration in front of a mirror is a time-tested way for dancers to improve. Using slow motion and pausing is another way to train your body to have good habits. Even if the move is the same, there are variations in execution that look good, and variations that don't. Study good ones. Forget bad-looking ones.
As you are trying to develop habits, repetition is necessary. "Did-it-well-once" doesn't count. "But-I-am-doing-it" without forming good habits means nothing. You need to do it hundreds of times until the good moves just show as your second nature, or your habit.
Like any other habits, you made a choice to dance in your way at some point, consciously or subconsciously. If you want to kick a bad habit and install a new (better) one, you need to work on it consciously.
Thinking about changing yourself would be the first step. Asking someone who you can trust and can coach you about your habits would be the second step. The third step would be physically moving and practicing good moves until they become your habits.
We are creatures of habit, after all. And eventually we are defined by what we do and the quality of it, not by what we are thinking of doing or trying to do but not doing.
Master Yoda, you were right.
