“Dance, when you’re broken open. Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you’re perfectly free.”  – Rumi

 

Joy!

This is one of  my core ideals.

I was always the bubbly one. Easy dimples flashing. I played hard. A tomboy. Ever giggling, laughing hard,  running as fast as I could.

I was one of those blessed with a high joy set point. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel things. It was that in spite of my circumstances, I could always see a silver lining.

And then, life began to happen.

Darkness began to creep in. My life was full of secrets. Fear and negativity began to overtake me.

Tragedy. Hardships. Abandonment.

Exploitation. Betrayals. Insecurity.

Each left their mark. The smiles grew dimmer. The glimmer replaced by a furtive look.

I know I am in trouble when I go for a long time without smiling – in fact during residency, I went 6 months without a smile!

But Joy saved me over and over again.

I love that Brene Brown in her book ” Gifts of Imperfection” talks about letting go of our need to be cool and cultivating song and dance. These are my two favorite things to do.  As a kid I could be found in front of the class, dancing, singing, entertaining my audience – I mean, my poor classmates!

Dance was my first love as a child.   I dance with complete abandon – “like no one is watching”. Turn on some great music and I just dance. I can’t help myself.

It is the one of the few activities in which I find that  I am truly free and actually in bliss.  Another is performing music – singing and playing guitar.

I have found myself a few times this year, surrounded by strangers at  conferences (World Domination Summit) dancing my head off, or rocking out in a talent show on guitar (camp GLP). I have accepted this fact – it’s  when I feel most like myself.

Life is short.

When was the last time you danced with glee? Who cares if you “don’t have rhythm”? The truth is, everyone has rhythm… you have a heart beating within you. Well, that’s rhythm!

I spent most of my life hating my voice. Now I realize I wasted a lot of time wishing for another voice when I should have used the one I had. I am making up for lost time. It can be tough to find the courage to use my voice. But I am surrounded by those who encourage me to use it and that takes the pressure off.

After spending decades running away from music, I choose to face the music. Actually, nowadays, I run to the music.

Last term, I brought a guitar to my daughter’s class and sang from three  “Pete the Cat” books. What fun to be surrounded by 14 six-year-olds singing – “I love my white shoes, I love my white shoes!”

Some  like to sing in the shower… Who hasn’t belted “All by myself ” by  Celine Dion in the car?

One of my favorite movie scenes is in  “To Rome with Love”  in which an ordinary man is discovered to have an beautiful operatic singing voice in the shower. But he can only sing in the shower.  So the shower stall is brought to the stage for his performances.

You don’t have to wait until you are happy before you dance or sing. Dancing and singing  will make you happy.

Some confuse joy for flakiness, polyannish oblivion, nonchalance and ignorance.

But, it takes a lot of courage to be joyful. It takes guts to stare at hard situations, mind-numbingly challenging  conundrums and say, “I choose joy. I choose to dance. I choose to sing.”

Yes, it helps to acknowledge tough, dreary situations. But research has shown that getting into a positive state helps you harness creativity for problem solving. I have experienced this again and again.

Creating space for joy means creating space for creative solutions.

Next time you feel stuck, ask yourself the following questions.

What brings me joy? What makes me laugh out loudly? Do I dance enough? When was the last time I sang out?

One of my favorite people in the bible is King David. He was a musician. In fact, he danced so hard that he danced his clothes off! How awesome is that? My kind of guy!

Let’s get rid of the straitjackets and let loose.

Time to celebrate!

Ready to dance?
Cultivating Joy through Song and Dance:
1. When was the last time you really let loose? In the shower? On the Dance floor?
2. What is holding you back? What are you afraid of? What is your shower stall? Bring it with you!
3. Feeling stuck? What can you do right now to get into a more positive state?
4. What is your favorite music? Create a playlist.
5. Have you ever created original music or dance? Can you learn any of your favorite dances or songs?
6. Do you know anyone who dances or sings freely? Can you enlist this person for a song and dance session?
7. How can you cultivate a joyful practice in your life? What can you do consistently starting today?

Dare to sing and dance like no one is watching. Guess what? No one is really paying any attention. Most people are self-absorbed anyway. Why not have a go at it? I hope you dance!

Would love to hear from you! Leave your responses below! See you next time.

Yvonne Whitelaw writes for Yvonnewhitelaw.com where she blogs about her quest to grow into her ideals in her “Live Your Ideals Project”. By sharing her lessons along the way (every Monday and Thursday), she hopes to serve and inspire a tribe of wholehearted warriors like you, to “live your ideals, live your calling and change the world.”