The Project

After a couple years of diaper changing, toddler chasing and finding cheerios stuck in my hair I've been yearning for a new challenge--one that does not involve "time outs" or playdough. Not that I don't find being a parent challenging. I love my life. I love my son and the opportunity to stay home and raise him. I am fortunate to have a supportive and involved husband and father to my child.

However, for a while now most of my identity has centered around connections to others: daughter, sister, wife, mother and I have, admittedly, lost myself a bit. I will give credit for it where credit is due, to me. I turned 30 this year, yeah 30. Initially it wasn't a big deal but it has become a year of turning points, a year of self-discovery and personal growth. I guess it is a milestone whether you like it or not! So in this spirit I am embarking on a new adventure--one that is exciting and scary but will be fulfilling in many ways. I hope you'll take the ride with me! Don't worry, you don't have to sell AmWay.

Soon I will begin a six week course in strip tease and pole dancing--yeah, I am dead serious and yes there is a class for that. I'm not talking about Richard Simmons' Sweatin' to the Strip Pole either, although I'll have to double check NetFlix for that one. My ultimate goal being to learn as much as I can about the art of Burlesque through various opportunities and develop a piece that I will perform at a Burlesque show. If I am good at it, which I hope to be, I want it to become an ongoing "side project." I know what you're thinking--she's lost it, holy shit, what pact with the devil spawned this ridiculous idea?--and I wouldn't blame you. That's fine by me. I could have decided to take up scrapbooking, latch hook or blogging--ha ha ha. I chose something else and in many ways it chose me. Let me just say a couple of words about burlesque for those who may not be familiar.

The word burlesque more or less means to parody, lampoon or poke fun at something. This usually refers to a literary work or theatrical performance that mocks a classic work. It got its start in Great Britain in the mid 19th Century, came to America and by the early 20th Century intersected with Vaudeville and became a cabaret of comedians, skits, singers, magicians and strip tease. In later years the focus became more about the strip tease and the strip tease became more revealing. In the last decade it has made a cult comeback made evident by the upcoming movie Burlesque starring Cher and Christina Aguilera--which, by the by, has absolutely no influence on what I want to do. Quite frankly, I think that movie is going to suck, but I digress. I would also like to mention that there is no "full frontal" nudity in burlesque--a g-string and pasties is most often as far as performers go. I chose the name for the blog because I want to chronicle the process of stripping down (no pun intended) my own preconceived notions of what/who I am and who/what I have the potential to be if I take the opportunity to explore it.

This "project", as I like to refer to it, has nothing to do with a quarter life crisis, a political statement or comment on my happy marriage and healthy, monogamous sex life. I'm not even going to address "body image" it's an old, boring conversation and if you know me, you know what I look like--nuff said. What I will say--and this part is important so please pay attention--I am going to be deliberately vague about places, names, people I encounter along the way in an effort to respect their privacy and the privacy of my family; most of whom do not know I am doing this, many of whom I don't plan on telling, and when it comes to the few I do want to know, I would like to tell them in my own way--whenever I figure that out.

The goal of the blog is not only to keep a kind of diary of my progress but to explore issues of balancing parenthood with art and the importance of self expression, telling the stories of those I meet and trying to answer the age old questions--is it art or is it pornography? How do you know if you're an artist--does the audience dictate or does the creator? And, ya know, I think it's gonna be hilarious because anything I try to do turns itself into a sitcom.

I'm looking for your support and interest, so if you're into it--stick around. Oh, one favor I do want to ask is that if you wish to leave a comment please do not refer to me with my Christian name, please only refer to me as Bunny--it goes with the whole privacy thing. And let's keep all related conversations and ideas in this forum--rather than any other social networking forums we all belong to. Cool!

Next up: Mtv inspires a "stripper" at age 8

Thanks,

Bunny