Let's Dance

Every Friday morning at work, we have an all-agency meeting. We all gather in the main conference room, and each team discusses what's happening with their clients. It's always pretty laid back, but this morning over half the office was out for a creative retreat or on client business. So instead of having a normal meeting, we watched clips from the Ellen talk show ... more specifically, we watched clips of Ellen with the two little girls from Britain who became overnight YouTube sensations when they were filmed performing "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj. The little girls were adorable, and when Ellen surprised them by bringing out Ms. Minaj, the reactions of the girls was priceless. We all laughed and clapped, and some of us had tears in our eyes when the cameras would pan to the father of one of the little girls as he cried like a baby to see how happy his daughter was.

After the meeting ended, I went over to talk to one of the managing partners for a few minutes and as I headed toward the stairs to go back to my desk, I heard music and a couple of the gals laughing at their desks. I stuck my head around the corner to see what they were laughing about, and saw that they were watching more clips of Ellen's show ... clips of her dancing as she comes on stage or when her guests arrive. As I walked up the stairs to my desk, I was smiling ... it's hard not to smile when you see someone dance ... and one of the gals in my office was dancing while she watched the clips. And I must confess, I don't smile a lot anymore.

All day at work, I couldn't get dancing off of my mind ... I did my fair share of dancing in my early years of college. My friends and I would get together on the weekends and dance to the music of Donna Summer ... I know I'm old, and I'm willing to admit that we did the whole disco thing ... think Saturday Night Fever and the glittery disco ball. And we all absolutely loved the original Footloose movie ... yep, I did a lot of dancing back in the day. As I drove home from work this evening, I wondered how long it had been since I danced and as I said aloud in the car, "When was the last time I danced?" my eyes filled with tears as I remembered. My only post in this blog in September of 2009 was titled "Dancing in the Moonlight." It's about a night that I lifted my little J.R. up off the trail and danced with him in my arms, inspired by a dad I saw dancing with his little girl and their puppy. That night in the moonlight with J.R. was the last time I danced ... over two years ago ... it's been over two years since I've danced.

Tonight as I walked with Ollie, I was listening to a mix of older songs when one by Bette Midler began to play in my ears. It was the song The Rose, from the movie of the same name ... a movie based on the life of Janis Joplin. The lyrics to the song are powerful, but the ones near the end of the song used to speak to me years ago, and tonight the depth of their meaning really hit me. I'm going to close this post with those lyrics, but first ... first I want to tell you what I did when Ollie and I got home tonight. I put on some music, and I danced in my living room with my dogs ... I cried ... and I danced.

 
"Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger,
An endless aching need.
I say love, it is a flower,
And you its only seed.

It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.
It's the one who won't be taken,
Who cannot seem to give,
And the soul afraid of dyin'
That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long,
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong,
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose."