Practicing Our Dance Moves (for Buttons)

I love the phrase "practicing our dance moves".  It implies that these are important things that will become so useful later that it is imperative that they be practiced.  Perhaps not practiced to perfection, but definitely frequently so that we can do the old ones well and learn new ones.

Life is just a series of dance moves, you know. I learned this from my 5 year old friend.  That is amazing.  In fact, the realization that I can learn from a 5 year old is what gives me the courage to throw caution to the wind and dance in my front yard.

There is no talking during our dancing. Only movement. We shake. We twirl. We wave our arms and kick. No organization or routine at all.  We respond to the music.  She hops and jumps and touches the ground. I bounce and bend and waddle. My friend commands me to do her moves yet finds easier moves because I'm too old and stiff to copy her "dance moves".  If I sing she shouts "NO SINGING!" to remind me this about moving to music and being in touch with my body. 

I've spun around to more than one suprised adult face that splits into a smile they can't contain. I choose to believe they are smiling at all the happiness that has engulfed them and not at the ludicrous sight of a 5 year old and an old woman in a dirty tee shirt dancing in the front yard.  I smile back at them because I know the joy I feel is produced my the inhibition my friend encourages.  I laugh because I know they can't let themselves go and practice their "dance moves" in the yard like we do.  They would be afraid......
Knowing when to respond with kindness or when it is healthy to show anger are some of life's dance moves.  Some of us do them more gracefully than others.  Some don't even try these "dance moves".  This makes me sad, because life has a multitude of emotions.  These feelings run the gamut from tender passion to hot rage and we need to learn to express them all in a healthy way.  Otherwise, we go through the motions of living but become spectators in life rather than participants.  We shuffle along following the leader trying to fit into a mold we didn't define.

I choose not to be a spectator to life.  I don't watch life on the tv set.  Neither does my friend.  This is why we must practice our "dance moves" in the yard.  We are alive and one with our bodies.  We are connecting with the music and dancing without words or instruction.  We are living in the moment.

At my house we dance like there may be no tomorrow.  We practice our "dance moves" and it prepares us for whatever tomorrow may bring.  We hope that when tomorrow dawns we will have another day filled with the satisfaction and joy of knowing we are ready to live life to the fullest because we have some awesome "dance moves" to share with the world!