I know. It’s a cliché. We’ve all heard it over and over.
Dance like nobody’s watching.
It’s supposed to be a metaphor to live life to the fullest. I get that.
But I have a thought.
What if you ACTUALLY danced like you didn’t care if the whole world was watching ? Like, for real?
I was cleaning house today, and one of my fav songs came on. And damned if I didn’t start shaking my booty and dancing all over the house. I mean full-on hip twisting, head bobbing, jazz hands dancing.
And for just one second, I stopped. What the hell is a 50-something woman doing dancing like a teenager. Like a fool?
But that thought was very quickly replaced by a new, better one: she’s doing exactly what she should be doing, which is whatever she wants.
I do dance my way throughout the house. And let me be clear: I am no dancer. At all. I am positive that I resemble a cross between a drunk wildebeest and those floppy air dancers outside of car dealerships. It’s not pretty.
But I’ve always been like this. I danced alone in my room as a kid, I danced with my friends as a teenager (lots of underage drinking was involved, so we all thought we were awesome dancers), I danced with my babies, and I dance with my pups now. I just always have liked to dance.
So my ending thought for today was pretty clear: I hope that I am dancing when I’m a sixty-something, a seventy-something and beyond. I hope that if I can’t throw out jazz hands, I can shake my cane with gusto. I hope that if I can’t twist my hips, I’ll still be toe-tapping in the kitchen . And I know that, until the bitter end, I’ll be head bobbing like a bobble-head even if I’m sitting in a wheelchair.
Because life is too short to care what other people think when you’re doing something sweet and healthy that you like.
So, if you feel inclined, stop reading this, find your fav playlist, turn it up loud, and just dance away. But don’t dance like NOBODY’s watching. Dance like the whole stinking world is watching and you’re showing them exactly what it looks like to be someone who is loving and living life!
Dance on, friends. Dance on.
