Starting the Blogrimage!

What is a "blogrimage"?
My step brother-in-law has been doing something he is calling a "blogrimage" for a number of years, and he's found some inspiration and new passions in the process.  I have decided to give it a try this year for a few reasons.  The first reason coming to mind is that there has been a lot of negative and difficult things in my life lately, and it could be a way to counteract some of them.  Secondly, I really miss physical activity in my life, especially in the last few years, and I used to find a lot of joy in it. So here I go!

A blogrimage is a term he coined to describe the process of a 30-day personal challenge that you work on every day for 30 days and then blog about it.

My backstory

I used to be a clogger.  Yes, you read that right.  Clogger.  Like, competitive clogger.  Clogging is a form of dance that originated in the Appalachian area of the United States.  It has its roots in a few European folk-dances, such as Irish step-dancing among others, but it has taken on its own form and style unique to the United States.  It is most popular in the southern United States, but thanks to hipsters it has become more and more popular in North, as well.  I legitimately did this kind of dance competitively before it was cool.  (Arguably, it still isn't cool, but it is present at a lot of bluegrass music festivals which are more and more common and popular.)

I loved to dance—I still do—and I did it several times a week from the ages of 8-15.  My parents used to drive me to a dance studio about an hour each way twice a week to feed my passion for this.  They also sent me to numerous workshops, performances, and competitions all over the country and often volunteered to chaperone.  It was a huge part of my identity for a long time, and then it just wasn't.  At around age 15, I decided I wanted to pursue other things, partly because I struggled with a knee injury, but also because I was 15 years old and I wanted to look into other parts of who I was becoming.  At this current point in my life, I haven't worked on clogging for more than 20 years, and I really miss it.

So, for the next 30 days, I am going to try and reignite my passion.  The plan is to start slowly because clogging is difficult, and I want to make sure I am preventing injury.  I am going to start with some basic skill-drilling and then learn a few fun routines from YouTube.  I will probably spend about 30 minutes a day on it, but more if I can and I feel like it.  The first step is to dust off my old shoes and find a practice surface. Here I go! Here comes the joy!