THIS WOMAN'S WORK

Today is Monday, the Monday after Spring Break. Kids are back at school, colleagues are back from vacation and it seems that people are ready to work again after 1-2 weeks of a sleepy work environment. I got to the office early, pushed a lot of paper around and seem to be in good shape. I always look forward to Mondays because Monday nights, I hit the pole studio after work. I go there to play but also, the moving meditation is good for my soul. 2 hours in a dark pole studio is heavenly. It is the only way that I can instantly, albeit temporarily, clear my head of cobwebs and my never ending mental to-do list. I picked up the phone and called the studio to see if there was any assignment for this week. Occasionally, instructors will give assignments where, as dancers, we are asked to interpret through music, costume or simple movement. The assignments have ranged from anywhere between “Rock star” to “Beatles Week” to “Year You Were Born” to “The Four Elements” to “Witchy Week” to “Desperate Housewife”. Sometimes they are fun – sometimes they are emotional. It’s always interesting to see how the other pole kitten students will interpret the lesson. This week, the assignment is “Work Clothes”.


I hung up the phone and wondered what I would do. Would I borrow one of my male colleague’s ties and bind my hands and attempt tied up pole tricks? Would I wear a men’s suit jacket and hat and emulate a Kim Bassinger You Can Leave Your Hat On strip? Would I wear closed toed shoes and fleshy colored hosiery that is often the dress code enforced by corporate America? HELL NO. I will do none of that. I began to wonder, why did my mind take me to a corporate place and corporate dress code – a man’s world – when I thought of this assignment? That might be the obvious direction, but I was not going there. No thank you. Instead, my mind instantly took me to Kate Bush’s song, This Woman’s Work. I do work in corporate America. I do have a desk job. But my primary job, as a woman is a mamagirl. Let me be crystal clear on that. That is the most important, most rewarding job I have ever had. And as you all know, it is not easy. It comes with challenges. And it comes with heartbreak too. If you recall this song, highlighted in John Hughes’ film She’s Having a Baby, the song is played when Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth McGovern are in crisis where she is delivering their first baby and both mother and child are in danger. The song blares in the background while the audience sees snippets of happier times. Walking down the aisle in a white wedding dress. Painting a baby’s nursery with a fully pregnant belly. Playing with their dog in the sprinkler on a spring day. Carefree times. Then, you see Kevin, anxiously waiting for news in the waiting room with tears streaming down his face. It’s a sad, poignant climax to the movie, but in the end, everyone is fine – mamagirl, child and happy daddy.

Tonight in the pole studio, I will dance to this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TupvVpxY_U
I will dance for all the Elizabeth McGoverns and all the Kevin Bacons who did not have the same outcome. I will dance for all their angel babies who never had the chance. And I will dance for myself. You see, seven years ago this week, I was Elizabeth McGovern. I worked hard for six months growing a beautiful baby boy in my belly. And then he was gone. Tonight, I will fly around the pole for him. And I’m going to wear some hot shooze doing it because that’s what makes me happy.