Tonight is THE night! Nerves are flying all around as tension mounts. I’m sitting in the trailer having my hair done with Kathy, Kelly and Karina in the chairs around me. Everyone seems very excited but also a little like “Deer in Headlights.” Now that the Emmys are over, all focus here is on tonight and tomorrow for the beginning of our amazing adventure. Tonight the men will dance and the ladies will chill but then Tuesday we switch. All I want is to be able to be calm and enjoy this time while it lasts.
Surprisingly for me, I’m calmer than I thought but I truly think the human body can only handle a high level of adrenaline for a small amount of time. Every time I think about stepping foot on that stage my belly flutters and my hands shake.
I am taking comfort in all the love that has been passed on to mefrom every angle; not only friends and family but from all of the Twitterverse as well! It’s amazing the support I have felt and the excitement I see and hear in people around me. I’m also taking comfort in the sheer joy of the moment and the amazingly talented people in this competition. We are all starting to bond over the experience.
Debi is great to be around since she has an amazing sense of humor and confidence. Louie Vito is a delight to be around. Mya is very sweet and brings a sense of calm and I can’t wait to hang more with Kelly this week. We are all in the same boat right now exploring the unknown and although I have a competitive side, the kid in me wants to play and the human in me wants to relate to everyone.
I’m just going to relax and enjoy this ride. If I take it too seriously it will all be in vain and this journey will lose all joy. So I’m going to take the advice of “Grandma” in the classic movie “Parenthood…”
“Grandpa took me on a rollercoaster. Up, down, up, down… Oh what a ride! It was so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited and so thrilled all together. Some people didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round
but that just goes around, nothing. I like the rollercoaster, you get more out of it!”
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