And those
who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the
music.
Friedrich
Nietzsche
Some days as a therapist, the world stops to listen
carefully. Your advice is welcomed as well thought out and life affirming, and patient
after patient informs you how much they appreciate your time, wisdom, and
advice.
Today was not one of those days.
Some days you’re the pigeon, some days you’re the statute.
Today I’m covered in birdshit.
I’ll live. On the whole there are more good days than bad.
But it was something that happened after work that provided
perhaps my best educational moment today.
It was a woman dancing. Just dancing. There was a little man
playing a ukulele on the street, and she had stopped to dance. Wildly dance. Inappropriately
dance. It was the middle of the afternoon and everyone else was simply going
about their business. Not her though. She had something inside of her she
wanted to express, and nothing was going to stop her. Some gave her dirty
looks. Others rolled their eyes.
It was then I thought of Friedrich Nietzsche and the quote
at the beginning this essay.
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane
by those who could not hear the music.”
It perfectly summed up the moment. Everyone (including me)
seemed busy and irritated except her. How dare someone dance in the middle of
the day?
I stopped to join her.
As the little man took a break from his Ukelele, the woman decided
to take a break as well. It was just as well, I may have been cramping her
style a little.
But I did get a chance to talk to her. She was a Maori woman
born and raised in Auckland who had seen a lot. Abuse, poverty, alcoholism, and
all kinds of suffering and loss. But still she danced. She danced because there
was nothing left to do BUT dance. What else could life throw at her? (her
words). Yet still she could hear the music while a lot of the rest of us apparently
couldn’t.
Of the 100 or so people I saw in that little square that
day, she was the only one who stopped and danced. Joyfully. Mindfully. In the
moment.
While the rest of us hurried about…
It was a good lesson for me actually. Good, bad, sorrow,
suffering, comedy, and tragedy. If we’ve lived at all in this life we’ve
probably seen a little bit of all of them.
If we’re still drawing breath however, we still have a
choice if we’re going to stop and listen to the music.
So tonight I’ll go home, dust myself off, have a glass of
wine, and prepare to do it all over again. A little wiser from having watched a
woman dance in the middle of the afternoon. At 7 A.M I’ll get up, hit snooze a
couple of times, and get up. There’s a lot more life to live.
Tomorrow I'm gonna remember to listen to the music.
