Hidden Discipline

Written 6/5/2025.If you recall my posts from the first year, my goal was to become very uncomfortable with life. The reason being is that EVERYTHING that I desire is hidden behind that fear and lack of comfort.Here’s an update: I went to a brand-new dance studio on Friday night. This was actually in Naperville (Can I Have This Dance). Robert’s Substack is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.I felt the need to get out and they had a Latin dance lesson where they taught Salsa and Bachata. The invite came through facebook which is where many of these events seem to be posted.Problem #1, they listed the address as in Lisle, not Naperville on the invite, so I ended up in a dark parking lot at a park. I finally just asked google for directions to the studio and got to the place just when they said they’d start the lesson.Problem #2, there were four guys and one girl there. I decided to wait before handing my money over to see whether anyone was going to show up. The lesson would have sucked to have such an imbalance. Luckily many more showed up (20 - ten leads, ten follows), so I stayed and learned more moves.By the time open dance rolled around there were at least 40 people crammed in this little space, but that was okay. As for emotional rollercoaster stuff. It’s always hard showing up to a place when you don’t know anyone. Then there was the issue of wrong address, then few people showing up. I’ve gotten much better over the past 1 1/2 years, but my heart still palpitates through this process.Thanks for reading Robert’s Substack! This post is public so feel free to share it.I ended up knowing two people. One from West Coast Wednesdays and then my original private lesson teacher (from 2022) was there too. She had recently moved from the former dance studio to this one to teach.The people were nice, and dancing was fun.I’m out in California next week and had ChatGPT identify two possible places to dance. If my schedule allows, I’ll be there.With my love,Robert This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rslayton.substack.com/subscribe