Key points
- Insisting on a specific tune to dance to will lead to many missed opportunities to dance.
- We can’t always know what music will be playing but we can always allow the dance within to emerge.
- People, and all other living things, have an extraordinary ability to find a way to rebalance, reorient, and reorganize.
During the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, my wife and son and I have been having a lot of fun exploring TV shows that are no longer running. We’ve loved Elementary, The Mentalist, and Person of Interest. At the moment, we’re absorbed in Bones. There are lots of reasons that make this a special family time but one unexpected reason has been the after-show discussions we’ve had about some of the poignant comments that various characters make from time to time. In Bones’s Episode 13 of Season 9, for example, at around 41 minutes, Seeley Booth remarked, “Sometimes you just have to dance to the music that’s given to you.” Then a little bit later he said it slightly differently, “Sometimes you just have to dance to the music that’s playing.”
Whichever version you prefer (I like the second one best), there seems to be a powerful message here for successful and contented living. Being able to dance to whatever music is playing suggests remarkable adaptability. Perhaps the ultimate in going with the flow.
Some years ago I discovered a Swedish proverb that expresses a similar sentiment. The proverb suggests: “Those who wish to sing, always find a song.” Both of these ideas speak to the extraordinary ability of living things to overcome obstacles and barriers to achieve the outcomes they want. People find a way.
It could be stating the bleeding obvious to point out the usefulness of being able to dance to whatever music is playing with the SARS-CoV-2 virus showing no signs of easing its torment of the planet. Situations and circumstances can change suddenly and unpredictably. Plans for important events like weddings and other celebrations have been ruined, and all manner of everyday routines to do with working and playing have been changed and then changed again. Rules and regulations seem to tighten and relax as routinely as the rise and fall of the tide.
It can be hard to keep up with the pace of all that is going on without getting giddy. Information about the virus and its variants along with the vaccines to combat it can vary wildly so that it is hard to get a sense of what should be believed or acted upon. The annoying little virus has plunged the world into unprecedented times.
Despite the relentless upheaval COVID-19 has caused, many people have continued to dance. The extreme nature of the COVID-19 calamitous pandemic has perhaps provided us with a powerful lesson for life in general. Long after the time when SARS-CoV-2 has been tamed and put back in its box, there will still be unexpected, even chaotic goings-on. Along the highway of life, there will always be a generous and ceaseless assortment of potholes, speed bumps, sharp turns, black ice, and rough edges. Contented living arises from the ability to stay the course; finding a way to dance to whatever music is playing.
Some people insist on only dancing to a certain tune or to particular music. Life, for them, will be strewn with disappointment and missed opportunities. Of course, we can only ever make our own decisions about what we will do with what comes before us. An attitude of dancing to the music that’s playing, though, will allow the indomitable human spirit to flourish.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t take a great deal of training or effort to keep dancing no matter what the tune. Sometimes it means doing less rather than more and allowing your innate proclivity to rebalance, reorient, and reorganize to take over. Of course, we all have preferences about the music we most like to dance to but insisting only on dancing when you’re song is playing will ensure you have long spells sitting on the sidelines.
Dance can be found in any melody. It’s not always clear what form the dance will be or where it will take you but having the courage and wisdom to let your dance emerge can be exhilarating and uplifting; if not also a little scary.
No one can convince you to dance if you don’t want to and no one can make you. You alone are the choreographer of your moves. But, if you have a dance to be danced, why would you not? A world where we all can enjoy the dancing within might be much closer than we think.
