About fifteen years ago, a mother asked her four year old daughter a question, and the answer changed their lives for the next decade and a half:

"Would you like to take gymnastics or ballet?"

The daughter considered her options with the most mental prowess a four year old can common, and gave the fateful answer:

"Ballet, Mommy!"

The mother had thought the daughter would say gymnastics, but signed her up for ballet nonetheless.

The girl discovered a world of freedom without knowing it was out of the ordinary. Through the choreographed movement and restriction shoes, she concentrated her pent-up energy into graceful movements across the floor. Over years, she began to mold her dance steps to her own will, creating dances of her own. She felt truly beautiful when she exercised that freedom, and occasionally she marveled that such disciplined movement granted her true liberty.

As children grow, they learn that the must narrow their view and get real world training and jobs. Upon entering University, the girl made a choice to give up her dancing and focus on her studies. Never before had she felt the pain of inactivity. Without ballet, her body did not cooperate as it once had. She felt chained, and without the guidelines of ballet, her movement and agility dissipated. The flexibility she once possessed turned into static. She occasionally embellished a simple turn around a corner, but her tired muscles did not yield the same expression. What once had been her salvation now only served to bind her to her future and remind her of time passed.