throwback.

It's never too late for a Throwback Thursday memory.

The hashtag #throwbackthursday (or #tbt) has emerged as a huge trend on social media, especially through the photo-sharing network, Instagram.

As a journalist, my natural tendency is to observe from both a distance and in the thick of it all. Like most trends, I thought Throwback Thursday would phase itself out over a few weeks. However, I think time is proving that it will be here to stay for awhile.

Slowly but surely, I have started to post my own photosr aging from a couple months to a couple years prior. As like-minded friends and I have shared funny, old and classic photos of each other, Throwback Thursday has become something I look forward to.

A few weeks ago, I had a major reality check/throwback. When I first moved to Toronto, I was still trying to get my feet on the ground and figure out where I wanted to work, dance, study, eat, et cetera. In the dance department, I tried out more studios and classes than I could shake a stick at.

I remember being in an open jazz class in 2009, watching an absolutely stunning dancer with beautiful technical training perform a combination across the floor. I had this moment (and I kick myself now for thinking this) where I said to myself, "Portia, you'll just never be that good. Let this dream go."

Over the next few years, I dabbled in the dance community, but put all my energy into school. When the dance bug bit me during my fourth year of university, I started taking more classes, choreographing and performing. Slowly, I found my self confidence and technique rising even more than I thought possible.

Now that I'm teaching, dancing and choreographing professionally, I try to take a moment and see how far I've come.

However, sometimes you can't choose those moments, I think they find their way to you. Mine happened in March while I was on stage performing in a sold out show. As I came up to my partner, she put her arm around me, looked me in the eye, and we continued along with the choreography. Front and centre in the piece, I realized my partner was that girl I had compared myself to in the studio only a few years before.

Of course I knew it was the same dancer long before this, but that was my "aha" moment, realizing how much has changed on my end.

I'm an avid believer in the throwback - they show us just how far we've come, and I can't imagine how much further we can go.

I can't wait to post a photo from that performance in a future Throwback Thursday.

Just a thought.