Hi, I'm Johari, owner of Dance Macabre. If you're wondering what it is I do after looking at my website, you're in the right place. I'm a Belly Dancer, A Crafter, a Mother and well far busier than any one person should be.
I've been Belly Dancing for 9 years now. It's been a hell of a journey, but three years ago, I struck out on my own. I've seen people from the troupe I was with do the same thing, and frankly they've been doing great! Me? I feel like I'm floundering a bit, but I hope to change that.
I love to dance. I love to create. I love to sew, but sewing does take time! The current project I'm working on, which was supposed to be a Halloween costume for this year, is taking longer than I thought to finish. But, when you bring in embroidery, that's what happens!
I'm also currently trying to reorganize and fung shui my house. It's going a little slowly because I live with my husband and three kids. Kids tend to bring more chaos and mess, particularly when you add school schedules, dental visits and doctor visits into the mess. So, please be patient, I am getting ready to update my website VERY soon! I just need some more products to showcase and I'm going to be posting some videos of me dancing and me giving small lessons in Belly Dance. Why do that? Because I want to pass down what I've learned. Since teaching doesn't really fit into my busy schedule anymore, I'd rather do it here, even if it's just a little at a time.
I've also been working on getting healthier. My doctor told me that I needed to lose quite a bit of weight (Geez, like I didn't already know!) to help my own body to function better. I was having a hard time breathing because my 5'1" body can't take being almost 200 lbs. I also was having a harder time with my heart and my organs were also not doing the greatest. So far, I've lost 32 lbs over the past year. I am not a quick 8-week success story, but with thyroid problems and kids and not much time to just exercise...it's very rough. I'm also hoping to re-energize myself a bit and get back to feeling more excited about dancing.
Lately, I've been very discouraged. Here I am, dancing 9 years, and I feel like I'm going in circles with trying to get my name out and trying to just get a gig here and there. This year was the best year yet, but it's mostly because I started saying "Hey, can I come and dance at your next gig?" This year, I'm hoping to get called more and asked to come and dance so let's hope for the best!
So, Dear Readers, it's time for me to just buckle down and get some more stuff done! :)