A couple of weeks ago we were heading to an Irish dancing show. Some of the ladies chatted with our tour guide beforehand and found out that he had learnt Irish dancing when he was young. When they encouraged him to do a few steps for them, he declined.
We headed into the wonderful show and afterwards, wandered back to the bus. My feet were trying to recall their days of tap-dancing from lessons twenty years ago, but my brain wouldn’t cooperate. I walked on, no one else was any the wiser about my thoughts of dancing. There was something about being in the environment of the show that I wanted to be able to break into dance like the dances I had just seen.
We were back on the bus and the ladies came bounding in calling out – “Denise, did you see [the tour guide] dance?” No. I didn’t. I didn’t even know about their previous conversation. I didn’t know that it had been a possibility. They told me that he had broken into Irish dancing in the carpark and I wished that I had been there to see it. I understood the desire to dance in that moment, I would have enjoyed seeing someone expressing what I was thinking.
Of course, it was a one-off. That moment of freedom was fast replaced by social norms and usual rhythms and it passed.
I’ve been thinking about that moment since. Perhaps you might have a fleeting thought that you’d like to do something that you used to do. In any regular context, you might dismiss the thought and carry on with the status quo. People might even invite you to do that thing, but you decline. If you get yourself in the right atmosphere, it is easier to take that step and break into an expression that you wouldn’t typically do in your usual environment.
Perhaps it’s forgiving someone, perhaps it’s getting your joy back, perhaps it’s something else entirely. Where is a place you could go to get in the right headspace for that thing? Where were you and what were you doing when you had the fleeting thought – that might give you some clues as to what would prompt you to act on your thought.
Being in the right atmosphere can stir your imagination, inspire you to act and provide grace for mistakes because your actions are not a performance.
As I was walking across the carpark, I had visions of shifting my weight from one foot to the other and allowing my feet to tap out rhythm. The thing was, I also allowed myself to imagine my foot just flailing about with no rhythm whatsoever. I settled on the flailing and didn’t even attempt the rhythm.
Thinking about it now, I am tempted to look up some basic steps online and see if I can do a little remembering in my own time. I might not have taken the leap of dancing that evening, but my imagination is stirred. I could look at that and tell myself off for not dancing in the moment, but I’m curious about it. If my desire was to dance that evening, could I explore that and learn a few steps again?
Not everyone is going to leap in just because they had a thought, but if we allow ourselves to explore further, we might work up to the dancing or the forgiving or the restoration of joy or whatever it is that has been stirred in our hearts. If I get myself back into that atmosphere, I might have the courage to dance another day.
In the case of the tour guide who had dancing tidily tucked away, the atmosphere of the show was enough for him to break forth. The thought that comes as I think about that is “Teach a child the way they should go and when they are old, they will not turn from it.” My learning was as an adult. I did not learn tap dancing as a child. This man learnt dancing through his youth. It came to the surface when it was appropriate. But he didn’t allow it to come to the surface until he was in the right atmosphere.
Are there positive habits or ways of being that you used to have as a child that have been pushed aside because of the environment you live in, because of offence, because of a traumatic situation? Perhaps getting yourself in the right atmosphere could be what it takes to pull those good things back to the surface.
What did you used to do when you felt joy? How did you used to express yourself before you took offence, or before that thing happened? What environment could you find today that could stir those good things back to the surface?
The difference between the two of us on that evening was that I talked myself out of it and he allowed himself to break free. There was no one particularly watching, no expectations there and so when he broke out into dance it brought joy to those that saw it. They weren’t assessing or judging him. The onlookers just saw a spontaneous expression from him that they hadn’t seen before.
I could learn from that. There was no one watching me, no expectation of anyone or anything and so I could have made an attempt, laughed at the absurdity of it and moved on. But here I am, my imagination still stirred, curious as to which steps I can still remember.
Even if you don’t make the most of an opportunity, there are other opportunities. Perhaps you couldn’t forgive back then – don’t give up, keep moving in that direction. Perhaps you still lack joy – keep setting yourself up for it, it’ll return in its time. Whatever that thing is that sits there, keep pondering it, upskill yourself if you need to, but keep the door open to the possibility of it happening.
Being in the right atmosphere can stir your imagination, inspire you to act and provide grace for mistakes. You might surprise yourself with the positive impact you have when you let a little of your genuine expression through.
What might be the atmosphere that unlocks things for you? You may find a surprising turn of events like I did at the show, but you can also be intentional about where you position yourself. If you are seeking to make a change, have a think about the atmosphere that you spend your time in and consider how to set yourself up for a moment of breakthrough.
