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This nugget of integrity in the New York Times this morning got me thinking about this disease we call jealousy.  I think there’s something that happens after New Year’s, when we have all of our goals and resolutions, and we start to find that they’re harder to keep than we thought and we start to give up on them (we more than survived before we made those silly things anyway, right?)  But then we start to look around at other people, you know, Doing Things. We start to become unsettled and frustrated at ourselves, wishing we had the follow-through, talent, and (let’s just say it) luck of the people who Do Things. What an exhausting way to live.  And if you think about it, what a boring way to live.  We have your own lives, skills, identities, histories, personalities and dreams.  Why would we want to mimic those of others?  How dull it would be to forgo the excitement of a life not yet fulfilled than to play copycat to another.  I think we all could look in a little deeper.  You too can Do Things.

Never underestimate the power of jealousy and the power of envy to destroy. Never underestimate that.
Oliver Stone

And may I just say, how can we possibly wonder why there is such emotional turmoil in ballet, and that jealousy manifests itself akin to UFC?  The ballets are FULL of stories based on jealousy.  Ballet dancers are paid to fall deeply into characters obsessed with jealousy.  It’s the crux of Coppelia, Nutcracker, Giselle… comment below to grow this list…