Living Happiness

flickr photo by: ifotog, Queen of Manhattan Street

Last night at 11:00 I finally finished eighteen hours of online coursework for the online courses I teach. With the internet being disconnected on Saturday and a trip out of the country beginning on Tuesday, it was necessary that all my work for the next two weeks be alternately corrected/marked/written/assigned/uploaded. After hours and hours of this Cut-and-Paste Hell, I was done, finished, complete! I couldn’t believe it! I had to check the To-Do list several times just to make sure–didn’t want any surprises to pop back out at me–but, no, I was done. Let the happy dance begin! And begin it did.

Do you dance? I don’t mean the official stuff like tango and cha-cha and lambada. I mean, do you DANCE? Shake your booty? Drop it like it’s hot? Get down with your bad self?

Well, I do. Which meant that last night, as I tried to compose a few long-overdue emails, typing was a bit difficult. But I danced anyway. How could I not? I would even have gotten G in on the action had he been here. But he wasn’t, and I didn’t let it hold me back. I popped in a CD and off I went. The Greek neighbors just peered in, nodded their heads, and ‘knew‘ – “It’s that little American girl again.”

Dancing happens a lot at our house. Not only do I like to dance to the music but I am engaged to Mr. Smooth Moves himself (well, he doesn’t call himself that) but he likes to move it, move it too … so we both move it, move it together a lot. We don’t have to have a reason. We move it while we’re cooking, while we’re cleaning, or on occasions like last night when we’re just glad something went right. We feel free. We laugh. A good time is had by all.

There have been studies over the years about the benefits of dance. I’ve tried to look them up for you, but I got bored and found I couldn’t bop around quite so much when I was doing that, so there aren’t any links here. (Boo. Hiss.) But suffice it to say, they all confirm what we already know: Dancing’s in our nature.

We all start getting rhythm about the time we’re old enough to walk, swaying to the music we hear our parents playing or (sometimes) just swaying to whatever tune is in our little heads (I still do this). We pick up pots and pans and bang on drums (pretty rhythmically it seems if my nieces and nephews are anything to go by) and we spin and twirl if the notion takes us.

It’s not surprising that these studies also confirm what we know to be true: Dancing makes us feel good. Think about it: have you ever seen a dancer with a frown on his face? I never saw Fred Astaire moping when he cut a rug.

So what about you? Maybe you think:

Well, this is what I have to say:

• First, who cares?! Get out there and do it anyway. I don’t have rhythm either … okay, well maybe I do a little bit (5 years of being a marching band nerd does mean that I can hear the downbeat and get in step with it). But that’s not what’s important. It’s about letting loose really. So go on and do it.

• Second, forget about everyone watching you. Hard to do I know. I used to be the queen of “I Can’t Dance; There Aren’t Enough People Out There” land. The mere thought of putting myself onto an empty dance floor kept me glued to my bar stool, clinging to my daiquiri glass like it was the last life preserver on a sinking ship. Hell no was I going out on that dance floor. But then someone said to me one day, “You know, most people are more worried about what other people are thinking of them than they are paying attention to what you’re doing.” This person was right and over time I’ve learned to not care so much. However, if you’re still a bit shy, no worries. If you can’t rock out in public, there’s still no reason why you can’t do so in the privacy of your own home. Crank the tunes, open a bottle of wine, and off you go.
• Just remember: Doing this is good, clean fun and nothing to feel silly about the next morning. The ancients used to do this all the time. It was their form of worship. As Nietzsche said, “I would only believe in a God who knew how to dance.” But if you are still a bit worried, I’ve included this clip just for you. It might make you feel better.

• Third, since when does everything have to have a purpose? Sometimes the best reason for something is simply, “Because it brings me joy.” So there now. Off with you. Shake what your mama gave you.

As a Japanese proverb says: We’re fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance.

Happy Friday.
Rock on,

By learning you will teach;
by teaching you will understand.
~Latin Proverb

A few days ago I wrote about writing with your heart instead of your head, and it seemed to resonate with several of you. I appreciated all of the lovely words and encouragement that came my way to assure me that this was the best thing to do and that you, for one, were enjoying my blog. Your words did a great deal to boost my spirits.

Over the past few days I have had my hands full trying to teach full-time, pack up a house, and prepare for a flight to the States on Thursday next week (one week from today). The last thing I have been able to do is sit down and write … from my head, from my heart, from anywhere.

I feel frazzled, anxious, and unsettled. Trying my darnedest to keep things in perspective, be in the moment, and not fret about a future that hasn’t happened yet. Easier said than done.

As a teacher, I have learned that learning is a dialogue between me and my students. Inasmuch as I instruct them, they instruct me. I do not have all the answers. Neither do they. But together we share more knowledge than when we are alone.

This is true in our everyday lives too. We all have something we can teach each other. We can all be each other’s students.

So today, I would like to offer you the opportunity to speak to me from your hearts. I would like to learn from you.

I look forward to hearing from all of you.