When you first start dancing, nobody tells you...

(this is all personal experience and a risk that you might run - These might not resonate with you though, these are just things to watch out for)

• Your view on men could change. Probably for the worse, if you have a good or neutral view to begin with. You'll see some of the best guys in there, and you'll also see some of the worst. You'll start to equate men with assault or how much a person can hide or just flat out having a bad assumption of them before you know them. And this will carry into your regular life too. You'll be wary of almost everyone and the people you do know, you'll wonder what secrets they keep. And new people might just be dollar signs if you're not careful.

• You will be assaulted. Frequently. The people you never think would, will. You'll judge everyone a lot harder. Your cynicism will skyrocket. Your guard will always be up. At work, at home. Unless you can learn how to put it up and take it down.

• Your sex drive could change. Might go up or down, but a lot of dancers I know, and myself, have a very low drive now.

• Your view on physical touch might change too. People touching you in places you don't want to be touched. Gross or disrespectful people and smells might be correlated with touch. You can just have over stimulation from being in the environment all night for nights on end. I even over think hugs now.

• Your view on money might be completely ruined if you go back to a day job or try to get out of the life. Unless you're smart with it and invest of course. But if you ever want to get a regular job again, the money will never compare with the club money.

• You might start to unintentionally attach your worth to numbers and money. Especially if you're pre-disposed to attaching your worth to things, this will be something your brain will automatically do. A bad night will mean you're a bad worker and a good night will mean you're the best. Until it's never enough. You'll always chase good nights and anything that falls short of the best will be the worst. Then the good nights won't mean anything to you because you can always make more. And if you don't, your mind will tell you that you're worthless. And it's a cycle that's hard to break because like the point before, regular work is not worth the dollar amount.

• Your self worth might be tied to your beauty and the fact is, your looks will fade. It's so easy to take a bad night personally on not just your worth as a worker, but your worth as someone with a face and body. You might try to help it with surgeries or food restriction. And then you might fall down the rabbit hole of an addiction or an eating disorder.

• It could make mental illnesses worse. I had OCD to begin with before I danced, but now it's almost unmanageable. I can't believe I go into work with all of the dirt and grime and unknown germs there. I do my best not to think of it.

• Dancing is a mentally exhausting job. You'll have to take precautions and care for yourself in every which way. Which can be fun, but can also be tiring too. Recovery from over stimulation can take a little bit of time.

• You need an end goal. Be smart with your money. Invest it. You can do this for a long time but not forever.

• Your worth is not connected to men. To money. To dancing. To any job. To your weight. To addiction. To people. To sex.

You are beautiful and I don't know if you're struggling with any of this or other things, but the bottom line is that it's okay to separate mentally from work. You're not bad or worse and your worth isn't determined by a club. That might be the hardest thing I've dealt with. Tying my life to this place. I know this is a bunch of rambling but this has affected my life in every way and I would love to at least warn someone new of the possibilities. And also offer support to anyone who's going through crap. Make the monies lovelies. ❤️❤️