The Secret To ...
Dec. 7th, 2007 07:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebIt is really quite amazing to me how often the word "secret" is used to refer to something that is actually common knowledge except to people who are quite ignorant on the subject. For example, you can easily find this word on the cover of magazines promising the secret to getting rich, the six secrets of quick weight loss, etc.
Another example is a certain ballroom dance teacher who rarely explains how to lead the steps he is teaching unless you ask. He will explain this if you ask, but he will refer to the information as a secret. I'm sorry, if someone is teaching dance, then how to lead should not be not a secret; it should be part of the curriculum.
And now I find that my own brain is selecting this word! It's so bad that I had trouble thinking of the word I really wanted. Finally, I decided that the word was "key." The keys for me to being able to tell when you are supposed to bring your feet together or whether one foot will continue past the other, when you are following in a smooth dance such as waltz are to a) brush one foot next to the other quickly after every step so that it is then available to go in any direction afterwards and b) be very patient about actually putting weight on that foot--don't do it until you're sure it's not going to have to go somewhere else first.
The key to a sane holiday... The four keys to better relationships... Yes, I think that works. So I am going to try to re-program my brain to use that word instead.
Another example is a certain ballroom dance teacher who rarely explains how to lead the steps he is teaching unless you ask. He will explain this if you ask, but he will refer to the information as a secret. I'm sorry, if someone is teaching dance, then how to lead should not be not a secret; it should be part of the curriculum.
And now I find that my own brain is selecting this word! It's so bad that I had trouble thinking of the word I really wanted. Finally, I decided that the word was "key." The keys for me to being able to tell when you are supposed to bring your feet together or whether one foot will continue past the other, when you are following in a smooth dance such as waltz are to a) brush one foot next to the other quickly after every step so that it is then available to go in any direction afterwards and b) be very patient about actually putting weight on that foot--don't do it until you're sure it's not going to have to go somewhere else first.
The key to a sane holiday... The four keys to better relationships... Yes, I think that works. So I am going to try to re-program my brain to use that word instead.