Everyone reflects on their year to date around this time. I’m no different. Sharing it publicly seems to be part of the process. I’ll try to keep it short.
The most significant part of my year has been spent learning to dance. Literally learning to dance again. I thought I could a million years ago, but it turns out I had most of it wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I can move, but I was clueless to the tools and details of true ballroom dancing. Funny thing, I just signed up to tighten up on some Salsa skills and learn Argentine Tango and I could have done just that. Except for the tenacity and guidance of my instructor. She just won’t let me quit and she pushes me out of my comfort zone repeatedly, although she fervently denies making me do anything I don’t want to do. She may be right; it may just be my compulsion to slay the proverbial dragons in my life. It’s not just her. I’ve learned from each one of the wonderful instructors as well as other students like me in the studio. A trivial post-retirement dalliance has become a way of life.
The lessons this way of life has taught me are significant. One thing I’ve learned is that I can dance. Anyone can. How well I do it has little to do with dancing itself. Honestly, unless people are paying me to watch me dance it does not matter how well or poorly I do it. The point, as in all things, is to take the shot. Just dance.
I will never be a dance instructor or a professional. I say this knowing that God has a sense of humor and every time I make absolute statements like that, He switches things up for me. But I’m certain I have no interest in pursuing dance as a career path. Nothing to do with age (although that is also relevant). Nor does it have to do with me being a slow learner who can forget a dance sequence a mere day after learning it (so I practice neurotically). I just don’t want to lose the freedom of being taught and the sheer joy of just dancing for its own sake.
I had a long conversation with a childhood friend of mine last night when he called me to offer condolences for my aunt’s passing. He stated that he followed my extensive dance posts and pictures on Facebook. He said he was pleased to see how happy I looked in all of them. He was right. I’m generally an annoyingly upbeat person and choose happiness, but adding dance to my life has bumped up the joy factor. It is joyful. Perfect word.
Since retiring I’ve sort of adopted a gypsy-like lifestyle. I really love that I don’t have long range plans for the future. It’s all a crap shoot. One thing is certain though. I will be dancing. A Social Affair dance studio is the primary reason I don’t yield to my gypsy heart and pull up stakes. We have an annual “Teacher appreciation” day. I feel like the Little Drummer Boy who does not have an appropriate gift for a king. In this case for the people who changed my life. But I will modestly attempt to let them know how much they have meant to me.
So, I can’t end without offering some unsolicited advice; go and fucking do that thing! Whatever it is. I’d recommend dancing to anyone but it’s irrelevant. Take the shot. Challenge your status quo. Pursue that passion, whether it makes you look ridiculous or majestic. Do it for the joyful feeling it leaves behind. Do it for however long you wish and then do something else. Why? Because “Life is a banquet, and most poor sonsabitches are starving to death.”
Filed under: Life its ownself | Tagged: art, ballroom dancing, dance, dancing, fitness, fitness, music | 1 Comment »
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