Memories.... from a former life

 There's a common joke that states if you know how to do something or identify with something really well, then you must have been or lived that way in a past life. This theme is often explored in films and books- The Mummy Returns, episodes of Charmed, The Haunting of Hill House, to name a few- but rarely is it discussed openly in real life.

My grandmother says that when she was a little girl, she must have been a little Dutch girl in a past life, because she found that culture fascinating. I've never been one for reincarnation, but I do have to agree with her- to some extent.

I've always identified with the "Bohemian lifestyle"- easy-going, carefree, artistic- yet I've also identified with the life of a dancer- hard-working, exhausting, pushing oneself to extremes- that I'm starting to think that maybe I was a Bohemian in another life, or even a ballerina in the French Corps de Ballet in the 1800s. I've always had a fascination with Paris; it's one of the places I would love to visit or even live, and I literally delight in reading works by writers like Daphne du Maurier, looking at paintings by Edgar Degas or studying the Lost Generation of artists.

I guess you could say, that as I've gotten older, I've taken a cue from those who live a life of Bohemia- Du Maurier, the dancers Degas painted, the gypsies. It just seems like such a wonderful way to spend your life, that I can't help being attracted to it.

When I got into college, I cut my hair short- going from long chocolate curls just below my shoulderblades, to short strands of chocolate just below my ears, where my jawbones meet my ears. I wear it in a straight, chocolate bob, the kind reminescent of the Roaring Twenties.

Around that same time, I discovered a newfound love of bangles and have by this time- three years past- have built up quite a collection of the jangling jewelry ranging in colors from green to gold and style from metal to beads to wood. On an off day, I'll wear a set of one kind; on an on day, I'll wear up to three sets, sometimes four- more for the sheer delight in the noise they make as they bump against each other on my wrists than for how good they look.

My primary colors are black and forest green with hints of blue- more for my love of Wicked than anything else, but I've also found that I just like the way the three colors look on me. I hate yellows on me, and wouldn't even dare think of trying orange with my skin tone- believe me, I've tried, and I will never do it again.

I'm starting to think that maybe my skills at writing, dance and arts of the like have something to do with a possible former life. The majority of my friends like to joke that I live in a Bohemian way of thinking; and maybe they're right. I seem to be more left-brained than right. Things like math and science confuse me, and while I like learning about thinks like anatomy and phsyology, I can't make my brain work long enough to where I actually get a thorough understanding.

Dance is something I get easily, and I delight in learning new choreography. I also enjoy writing; though I suffer from serious bouts of writer's block, I ultimately am able to write something worth reading- such as the novel I'm working on.

I have a sick fascination with toe shoes and tattoos, and I'm willing to get both- though the former more than the latter. I also delight in reading the classics like Jane Eyre and Anna Karenina. History as well excites me, but in an entirely different way.

I actually find it disgusting that I can recite an obcene amount of facts about certain things in history at the most random of times. Not only is it disgusting; it's downright annoying.

I don't know, maybe I was forced to live a life in the arts over and over until I can get whatever I'm supposed to get right. I'm not entirely sure, it's just a guess; I'm just saying.

If so, then that makes these memories from a former life a hell of a lot more interesting.