We Keep Dancing Through the Dark
Yesterday was Julia’s would be 33rd birthday, October 25th.
As we’ve written about before, Julia had a tattoo on her foot of the Robyn lyrics “I keep dancing on my own.” This was a mantra she chose to live by after she pulled through some really tough years in her life.
So naturally after Julia died, we all (25 of us and counting) got “I keep dancing” tattoos and often listen to the song on repeat. “I keep dancing on my own” has been a solace for us and a reminder to keep dancing even though our bodies and souls feel so tired from yet another year without Julia.
The ink we all wear together reminds us that we did (and will continue to) dance out of darkness.
Dancing through pain doesn’t mean ignoring it or slapping on a joy bandaid. The very act of dancing requires putting everything out in the open, being vulnerable, and acknowledging every part of you that hurts as well celebrating the very act of being alive. Julia taught us this…and so did Robyn.
Today, October 26th, Robyn came out with her long awaited album, Honey.
Robyn’s album comes out after 8 years of a deep, dark period in her own life. More on this here.
Her album and the tracks “Missing U”, “Because it’s in the music” (lyrics below) and “Honey” especially reflect on what it means to dance out of darkness. And for those of us who know exactly what that feels like, this album seems to be written just for us and will no doubt usher in a new phase of our own healing.
Happy album release day, Robyn. We can’t express how much you and your music mean to us. Thank you for giving us music we can dance to, feel to and heal to.
Happy birthday Jules. we’’ll keep dancing for ya…and for us.
We know you’re right alongside us, donning your sassy grin and booty shake.
Because in dancing, “the residue” of you is still so sweet.
Scholarship update: We are incredibly grateful for everyone’s support over these last three years since Julia passed away. As you can imagine, it’s been a really hard three years, but your support and encouragement have meant the world to us and have truly helped us heal.
The scholarship we created in Julia’s honor is currently in process with the Orange County Community Foundation and in 2019 we hope to get the traction we need to see what this beautiful scholarship can do in the lives it touches.
If you’re wondering why the heck this has taken so long, setting up a scholarship is a lot of work as it turns out! Thanks for your patience as we continue to set it up properly.
Your generous donations have made all of this possible and we can’t wait to officially “launch” the scholarship once all the pieces are in place.
