Pole Dancing: The Bigger Picture

It is no secret that pole dancing has brought nothing but joy to my life. I'm very vocal about my love my for everything about this sport. It has given me amazing friends, great memories, a new way to exercise, countless laughs and an outlet to express creativity. However, it has also given me a new addiction: competing. Pole dancing competitions are some of the most nerve-wracking things that I've ever done and I still love every second of them. As a naturally competitive person, of course, I want to win. But that doesn't always happen because that's life.

Today I got home from a competition and if I'm being honest, I was disappointed. I had fun going on a road trip with all of my friends from the studio and I had a great time competing. But when I saw my scores, honestly, I was upset. I was very proud of my routine and although I didn't expect to win, I couldn't understand why or how I scored the way that I did. It is difficult when you spend a lot of money to register, spend weeks working on a routine, go through the nerves, actually perform it and wait for the results, only to find out that you didn't do as well as you'd hoped. And that's how I felt when I looked at that score sheet.

Even though I was extremely mad and bitter about it, I had to take a step back and look at the situation. For my routine, I was playing a character and I needed two human props to make my concept happen. So my instructor and another friend from my studio helped out and became human props for my routine. To do that, they had to drive about six hours to the location, pay money to stay in a hotel, be a part of the routine, pay for all of their food while they were gone and drive six hours on the way back home. And they did that for me. Even though they didn't have to. Even though they were only in my routine for around 20 seconds. Even though it wasn't their routine.

Realizing that helped me see the bigger picture. I love pole dancing. I love competing. But what I love the most is the amazing community that I am a part of. Everyone within the community has repeatedly said that pole dancers are the most supportive, most loving, most caring people. Competitions are competitive, of course, but they are also full of men and women encouraging others to do their bests and praising them just for having the guts to try. I feel incredibly grateful and lucky to be a part of this community and to have made such amazing friendship bonds with people from my studio, and others.

I had a great time this weekend. Now that the competition is over, I can say that my placement doesn't matter. I had so much fun running my routine and I left my heart out on that stage. But most importantly, I know that the incredible friends that I've made though this sport have my back and always will. Thank you so much for all that you guys do for me. Please know that it is always noticed and will always be appreciated. I'll never take you all for granted and I don't know how to repay you for all that you've done for me over the past year and a half, or over this weekend. I'm blessed to know you and I love all of you.

-Chelsea