Words from the Woodstove

I absolutely love Pinterest! It's a brilliant way to take the old-school vision board (remember when we had to tear out pages of magazines?) and turn it into something digital you can take anywhere. Yes, sometimes it's a giant time suck like every other social media site. But only if you let it. If you limit how much time you spend browsing, you won't waste away the entire day pinning recipes you'll never make or directions on how to create the perfect smoky eye that'll just turn into raccoon eyes when you try it on yourself. When I Pinterest (Yeah, I just made it a verb), I have a focus for every session I'm on the site. If I'm feeling a little low and need a pick-me-up, I'll look for inspirational quotes that make me pause. If I'm feeling lazy and need motivation, I'll look for new workout ideas. If I'm feeling creative, I'll look for new craft ideas. Often, you see statuses crop up on Facebook about Pinterest "fails." ...

I'm watching a documentary on Netflix called First Position , and it's all about young dancers trying to win the Youth America Grand Prix, and a chance for serious scholarship money and job contracts. They spend hours and hours every week training as classical ballet dancers, giving up other, more traditional childhood activities. They do it because they love it. They do it because their passion runs deeper than anything they've ever known, even at their young age. They do it because, as a dancer, there is nothing more energizing and spectacular than being on that stage. The lights, the enthusiasm from the audience, the opportunity to perform in front of lots of people... it's all so incredibly thrilling. The more make-up and hairspray, the better. The more sequins on your costume, the better. These kids are incredibly hard on themselves... more than likely, harder on themselves than anyone else could ever even attempt. They are like any other elite athlete (and befo...