Don't blame yourself, blame Hip Hop!

I went to my first hip hop class here in Singapore yesterday. It was almost 2 hours long, fun, tiring, and did I mention fun? I'll write about it later, but a quick recap of hip hop culture is listed below. A lot of us are aware of hip hop, but don't really know the basic history of it. I've listed a few short bullets, but obviously there's way more.

1. "Hip hop is a cultural movement which developed in New York City in the early 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latin Americans[1][2]. Hip hop's four main elements are MCing (often called rapping), DJing, graffiti writing, and breakdancing. Other elements include beatboxing, hip hop fashion, and slang. Since first emerging in the Bronx, the lifestyle of hip hop culture has spread around the world.[3]" - wikipedia


2. "Jamaican born DJ Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell is credited as being highly influential in the pioneering stage of hip hop music[9], in the Bronx, New York, after moving to New York at the age of thirteen. Herc created the blueprint for hip hop music and culture by building upon the Jamaican tradition of toasting, or boasting impromptu poetry and sayings over music, which he witnessed as a youth in Jamaica.[" - wikipedia

The first one gives an idea of where Hip hop comes from and the second one is important because due respect must be given to pioneers!

Hip Hop DANCE came from hip hop culture:

"The dance style primarily associated with hip hop is breaking, which appeared in New York City during the early 1970s and came to be popularly classified as one of the four primary "elements" of hip-hop (along with rapping, DJing, and graffiti). Funk styles, such as popping and locking, evolved separately in California in the 1960-70s, but were also integrated into hip hop when the culture reached the West Coast of the United States." - wikipedia

Obviously, Hip hop dance is varied, and has many different styles, and is open to interpretation from a choreographer's standpoint. Hip hop dancing is really fun, but it's not that easy for me. I have to really work at it to make it look right and even then I know I don't have that natural "swag"

So I went to this class taught by a friend of a friend. It was pretty full with about 25ish dancers. The style of dance was more soul hip hop. There was a lot of choreography. I haven't learned a hip hop routine in a very long time so that definitely slowed my progress. It takes me a lot longer to learn an entire routine because I haven't practiced learning a lot in an hour. So I got some moves, and not others and kind of danced along until the end when they split everyone into groups to perform. This was by far my least favorite part because I SCREWED up and looked like a fool. YAY.

I really like hip hop but DAMN it can be hard. No worries. I shall persevere and get better at it.

My favorite choreographer!

Just Leave it be!

I'm trying to get to the bottom of this because it really bothers me. If you've been in a relationship with anyone for longer than 6 months, someone will ask the INEVITABLE question: When are you two getting married?

The question itself is not that bad. It's the idea behind that seems so one-sided to me. The reason people even ask that question is because of the horriblely skewed thought: you date someone so maybe one day you can marry them.

First of all, humans are not meant to be alone. We need people around us like our families, friends, and significant others. Humans like companionship. So when you're dating someone, you're with them because you enjoy being with that person. It's that simple. It doesn't always have to have an end result. I know women are guilty of the whole "wedding bells in our head" once we date a guy who we feel compatible with. I blame that habit on history, and also the way society puts SO much pressure on dating to MARRY.

I don't want someone to tell me I SHOULD marry my boyfriend because we've been dating for so long or whatever. No one should ever tell someone else to BELIEVE something they don't. I do believe in marriage and yes, dating someone does help you figure if you want to be with that someone or not. But that's not the case for EVERY relationship. I'm not going to date someone and think "hmm is it possible to marry this guy?" from day one. If marriage happens, it happens. If things so sour, I break up, eat a pint of ice cream, and move on with life.

The POINT of dating someone is to make yourself and the other person happy. NOT necessarily marriage!

Not everyone has the desire to live in white picketed fence house, complete with an electric dog fence for Fido in Suburbiaville, US. This isn't the 1950s. Times have changed and so have relationships.

People need to understand that there isn't a right way and wrong way in relationships because it's up to the INDIVIDUALS involved.

Amen