Dance Break

Feb 1, 2025

In a recent phone call with my dad, our conversation meandered as it usually does, flowing from one topic to another like the familiar winding path of a creek over smooth stones. We talked of food, empty nesting and household chores that neither of us had gotten around to. He shared some old fishing tales and reminisced of his boyhood on the farm with his seven brothers and two sisters. We talked of music we love, both of us wishing we’d inherited his father’s talent for it. And we talked about dancing and how much his father had enjoyed trying to foxtrot with my grandma, who—according to my dad—didn’t share Grandpa’s sense of rhythm.

With a wry laugh, my dad added that he supposed he must have inherited his dancing skills and music ability from her.

I told him that I wasn’t sure if I had any talent for music, even though he reminded me that I used to play the piano by ear when I was little. As for dancing, aside from square dancing in elementary school gym class, the jr. high shuffle, and a lesson at a historical romance retreat in Spokane, I hadn’t really learned to dance. So who knew if I was any good at it?

I shrugged on my end of the call. Then I admitted with a laugh of my own, that ability or lack thereof didn’t stop me from trying. I take daily “dance breaks,” as I call them, turning up the music in my kitchen and just letting loose. And probably mortifying any neighbors who might spot me through the window.

But I don’t let that stop me. Science supports this practice, after all. When we listen to music and move our bodies, our brains release all the feel-good chemicals that are important to our overall health and wellness.

Then, with the curl of a smile tucked into my dad’s voice, he admitted that he liked to shimmy and slide his socks over the hardwood floor, too, giving his own neighbors something to talk about.

But I’d like to think that all of us are in our kitchens, dancing like no one’s watching. 🙂

 

Warm wishes and happy reading,

Viv

Comments

  1. Annette N says:

    I Love music and in the far distant past, one young man who was a friend and I used to go dancing every Friday night. It was a wonderful thing for me. It made me feel energetic until the next Friday.

    Everyone needs to have a regular dance partner to take you for a twirl on the floor.

    Shoot Fire, I felt like Ginger to his Fred.+

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