Coming Home to What Matters: Intention, Connection, and Bringing in the New Year on the Dance Floor

I just got back from a truly wonderful time at Spotlight New Year’s Celebration in Nashville, and my heart feels full in that quiet, grounded way that only happens after a weekend spent with good people, meaningful conversations, and a lot of dancing. There’s a softness that lingers after experiences like this, when both the people and the space have deeply held you, and it takes a few days to fully land back into everyday life.

For the past two years, my husband and I have stayed with dear friends who live in Nashville, the Caros, who open their home, their table, and their lives with such genuine generosity. Being welcomed not just as guests, but as family, creates a grounding that begins long before the first song plays. Their warmth, laughter, and presence set the tone for the entire weekend, reminding me how powerful simple hospitality can be. When you start a celebration feeling safe, seen, and cared for, everything that follows feels more meaningful.

That feeling is then beautifully mirrored and expanded by the dedication of the event directors, The Markers, whose heart, intention, and integrity are woven into every part of the weekend. You can feel how deeply they love this dance and this community. Their commitment to staying true to who they are, without comparison or pretense, creates an environment where others are invited to do the same. It’s the combination of being personally held in a home and collectively guided in a thoughtfully created space that makes this weekend feel so magical.

This weekend has become one of those annual markers in my life, a moment to pause, reflect, reconnect, and intentionally step into a new year surrounded by people who value connection as deeply as I do. And every year I leave, reminded of something simple, yet powerful:

The intention you put into things is what creates the magic.

A New Year Built on Friendship, Dance, and Connection, Not Frenzy

So often, New Year’s celebrations can feel rushed or performative, big crowds, loud noise, endless pressure to do more, be more, start fresh in a way that feels disconnected from who you actually are. But Spotlight feels different.

This weekend isn’t about impressing anyone. It’s about friendship, presence, and shared joy. It’s about staying up late laughing with people you haven’t seen in months, hugging friends you’ve danced with for years, and welcoming new faces into the fold without expectations.

There’s an ease to the energy. A softness. A deep sense of belonging.

And that doesn’t happen by accident.

When Intention Becomes Tangible

One of the things that stood out to me most, again, was how deeply you can feel the intention behind this event. Every detail, from the way people are greeted to the flow of the weekend, reflects care and authenticity.

The organizers do an extraordinary job of staying true to who they are, and that integrity shows up in everything they create. You can feel their heart. You can feel their passion. You can feel their dedication to the love of this dance and the community surrounding it.

That’s something I deeply value, not just in dance events, but in life and business as well.

When intention is clear, it becomes felt, in the nervous system, in the way people move, in the way conversations unfold. It creates safety. It creates connection. It creates space for people to be fully themselves.

And that, to me, is where the real magic lives.

Dance as a Mirror for Life

Every time I step onto the dance floor, especially in spaces like this, I’m reminded that dance is never just about dance.

Dance mirrors life.

There are moments of effort and moments of ease. Times when you feel completely in sync with your partner, and times when you stumble, misread, or lose your footing. The dance doesn’t ask you to be perfect. It asks you to stay present, to listen, to respond, and to keep moving forward with curiosity rather than judgment.

This weekend gently reminded me of something I think we all need to hear from time to time:

You don’t need to compare your path to anyone else’s.You don’t need to perform or prove.You just need to come back to who you are.

Coming Back to Center When Life Pulls You Off Balance

I’ll be honest, there are times when I find myself slipping out of balance. Times when comparison creeps in. Times when I start paying too much attention to what everyone else is doing, saying, or building. Times when the noise gets louder than my own inner knowing.

And when that happens, it’s people like the ones who create and hold spaces like Spotlight that gently pull me back.

They remind me that alignment doesn’t come from chasing trends or trying to be someone else.

Alignment comes from staying rooted in what matters to you, even when it feels vulnerable or countercultural.

They remind me to stop judging myself.

To stop measuring my worth against someone else’s timeline.

To stop worrying about what might be said or thought.

And instead, to simply show up.

Fully.

Honestly.

As myself.

The Freedom of Letting Go of Comparison

Comparison is sneaky. It doesn’t always show up as loud self-criticism. Sometimes it appears as subtle doubt. A quiet questioning of whether you’re doing enough. Whether you’re visible enough.

Whether you’re enough.

But comparison pulls us out of our bodies and into our heads.

Dance, especially social dance like West Coast Swing, invites us back into embodiment. Back into sensation. Back into listening instead of judging. When you’re connected to your breath, your timing, and your partner, there simply isn’t room for comparison.

You’re too busy being.

And that’s something I carry with me long after the music stops.

Why Community Matters More Than Ever

As women, especially women in midlife, women building businesses, women navigating transitions, healing journeys, or new seasons, community is not optional. It’s essential.

Spaces that prioritize connection over competition are rare, and they are precious.

Events like Spotlight remind me why I do what I do through Dance to Uplift. Why I teach. Why I host small, intentional classes. Why I emphasize breathwork, presence, and nervous system regulation alongside technique.

Because dance has the power to:

• Reconnect us to our bodies

• Regulate our nervous systems

• Restore joy and play

• Strengthen relationships

• Bring us back to ourselves

  
  

And when that happens within a supportive community, the impact is exponential.

Bringing These Lessons Into the New Year

As I step into this new year, I’m carrying these reminders with me:

• Intention matters more than perfection.

• Staying true to yourself creates resonance.

• Comparison disconnects; presence connects.

• Community is medicine.

• Joy is not frivolous, it’s foundational.

  
  

I’m recommitting to doing the things that truly matter to me.

To creating spaces that feel safe, embodied, and real.

To teaching dance not just as movement, but as a pathway to deeper connection, with ourselves and with others.

An Invitation to You

If you’re longing for more connection, more joy, more presence in your life, I want you to know that you’re not alone.

You don’t have to overhaul your life.

You don’t have to have it all figured out.

You simply have to start where you are.

Sometimes that beginning looks like stepping onto a dance floor.

Sometimes it looks like taking a breath.

Sometimes it looks like choosing community over isolation.

Whatever it looks like for you, trust that small, intentional steps can create profound shifts.

Final Thoughts

Leaving Nashville, I felt grounded, inspired, and deeply grateful, not just for the event itself, but for the reminder of who I am when I’m connected to what matters most.

Dance has always been a place where I come home to myself.

And weekends like this reaffirm that when intention, integrity, and heart lead the way, something truly beautiful unfolds.

Here’s to a new year rooted in authenticity.

Here’s to community.

Here’s to joy.

And here’s to continuing to show up, exactly as we are.

With love and intention,

Shalay