Joy Unconfined! Life as an Interpretive Dance!

How Will You Color Your Life?

'How do I create a vision of 'life as an interpretive dance' that is joyful, meaningful and inspiring despite the pain?'

We all start life with an empty stage and a blank dance card. We make the steps up as we go--improvising and interpreting along the way. What does your interpretive dance convey? Our dance steps and our interpretations are our own. We decide what moves us and what a moving experience looks like.

How will you color your life? How will you interpret your dance? What meaning will you give your daily dance? How will you use up all the space on your stage? How will you keep dancing when you get blisters on your feet and it feels too hard to go on? How will you put it all together? What words of wisdom will you surround yourself with on the outside, and within the confines of your heart?

I've been playing with the 'Life is an Interpretive Dance' coloring template--playing around with colors, themes, and embellishments. I've included the template here for you to copy, enlarge, and use as a meditative coloring page if you'd like to do the same.

And this is how it all got started......

The Conversational Dance 

'What started as an every day conversational dance between mother and child~with one waltzing in to interject a thought and the other following with an impromptu quick step to embellish and finish the other's thought~soon became a stage for all of us to examine the dance of life~with each of us giving it our own interpretation.'

Zorba the Greek Speaks!

'On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined.' Lord Byron

As a toddler, my friend's son, Brendan, was so joyfully engaged tasting life he earned the nickname Zorba the Greek. I remember watching him the day he sat in his high chair experiencing--rather than eating--his yogurt. 

As he gleefully sang 'blahhh, blah, blahhh, blah' a mouthful of yogurt tickled his tongue and softly leapt into the air, creating a mishmash of delightful experiences for all of his senses. His body danced with 'joy unconfined' (thank you Lord Brendan) as he immersed himself in an exquisitely sensual experience. In that moment every cell in his body conveyed the goodness of life.

Brendan, now in his 20s, is about to graduate with a degree in film. I had the pleasure of chatting with him on a recent trip to visit with his mother, Stephanie, a very expressive and free spirit with a ready laugh--who has recently emerged on the other side of treatment for breast cancer. 

As we chatted about the differences in temperament fully apparent from childhood between his older brother who has become an Accountant and himself, Brendan's mother stepped into the room and joined the conversation.

'It was clear early on', I said, 'that your brother was a more linear and orderly person. He would organize his crayons by color and in order. He was very methodical and careful when he colored. His choosing to become an accountant is a perfect path for him. It allows him to utilize his natural preferences to be more specific, factual, and orderly when dealing with the world.' 

'I on the other hand, his mother interjected as she swooped into the conversation with a graceful and expansive sweep of her hands, 'am more of..'

'...an Interpretive Dancer!' Brendan blurted out--sending us all into fits of laughter and mirth. 

...And thus spoke Zorba the Greek, sending us leaping and twirling down the joyful path of exploring life as an interpretive dance!

Life Is An Interpretive Dance 

...And We are All Interpretive Dancers! 

What a brilliant moment of silly insight: Life Is An Interpretive Dance! 

In a split second I realized Brendan had articulated a fabulous filter for viewing life. Just as I've held a picture of baby 'Zorba' enjoying life--now 25 years later, his spontaneous and creative outburst filled me with a new colorful vision of 'Life as an Interpretive Dance' to inspire me for many years to come. 

And his mother--with her continued upbeat and determined attitude despite the difficulties of dealing with 2 years of grueling cancer treatment--provided me an uplifting picture of an interpretive tap dancer able to artfully keep high spirited and high-stepping while stomping and leaping beyond the most difficult dance of her life.

We are all interpretive dancers providing the meaning to our own personal dance of life--accountants and creatives alike.

The Color of Our Lives

It's not just the creative, exuberant people who are the interpretive dancers. And it's not just those without struggles who dance. It's all of us--accountants and creatives alike, from birth to our last breath, who provide the meaning to our lives. We are all the dancers on the stage of life. How will you lead and interpret your life dance?

A single moment or comment can linger in our memories for a lifetime coloring our entire view of life. For me the question is 'how do I create a vision of 'life as an interpretive dance' that is joyful, meaningful and inspiring despite the pain?' How do I inspire myself?

As Carlyle says, we make each day a dance, a dirge or a life march. What will you do to make your days a dance that is more uplifting and joyful to help carry you through the more difficult moments?

'Every day that is born into the world comes like a burst of 

music and rings the whole day through, and you make of it a 

dance, a dirge, or a life march, as you will.' Thomas Carlyle

'On with the dance! Let joy be unconfined.' Lord Byron

We're the interpreters~

We're the ones who take words and thoughts 

and bring them to life~

We are born to sing and dance and laugh our lives~

Dance is the song of the soul.

Nobody cares if you can't dance well~Just get up and dance

Dave Barry

The world is full of poetry. 

The air is living with its spirit; and the 

waves dance to the music of its melodies, 

and sparkle in its brightness. 

James Gates Percival

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Susan J Meyerott loves helping people become more fully themselves, particularly those working through anxiety, life and career transitions, relationships, and self-doubt. She provides a nonjudgmental, growth-oriented environment for you to become the person you’re meant to be—while appreciating the richness of who you already are. Learn more at Lightarted Living Blog