"Ambiguity is stressful. When you can’t see what lies ahead, it’s normal to become more tentative, to give in to the impulse to sink into your hips and thighs, fall back on your heels and fix your eyes nearer to the ground. The posture in ballet, and particularly on pointe, is exactly the opposite. I am forced to pull myself up as far as I can go and then some. By sheer force of will, I make my legs, body and neck inches longer. I gaze up and out, leaning slightly forward, embracing the hypothetical audience. My stance is one of readiness — I am literally on my toes, poised for opportunity and adventure, open to change. Ballet has given the flexibility to deal with loss and the courage to finally emerge from the wings. True, I don’t perform on stage and nobody is going to shower me with roses or applause. But in writing from the heart, I’m finding my own kind of spotlight."
- Katherine B. Weissman, Self Magazine
"A real friendship ought to introduce each person to unexpected weirdness in the other."
- Jaron Lanier, You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto
