Dance Like No One is Watching

Dance like no one is watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like no one is listening,
Live like it's heaven on earth.  
--William Purkey

And we did, as most of you already know!  For over two hours straight, Astrid and I danced our feet off at my nephew’s farm wedding in Michigan.  It was our first time to dance publicly in our 5 years together, with my extended family watching (as I mentioned here). 

Michelle, the official wedding photographer, said, when she found only 5 images:  “I'm sorry - I thought it was more.  Maybe I was just watching the two of you dance and not clicking the button as much as I thought!!!  Haha.”  So, she, too, was watching.

Now, a fun, God-honest story:  When Astrid looked at her watch at one point (a different kind of watching), it was supposedly 9:12p.   Unbeknownst to her, that’s when her watch had stopped.  So you can imagine her disbelief when I told her shortly thereafter it was 11p.  She had thought the night was still young!  You and I know, of course, the Wood Elves played a lovely trick on her just to keep the magic alive.  She is, after all, the stronger dancer and knows how to lead...ME!  Heaven on earth.

That was Saturday in Michigan.  How could anything ever top that!

The next day we flew to Atlanta to be with my kids and grandson.  As daughter Amy was preparing supper, with lovely music playing in the background, Nicholas, now 12, said.  “C’mon, G’ma.  Let’s dance!”  He had not been at the Saturday wedding but was perhaps remembering from a year ago how we had danced at the cabin.  At one point he rested his head against my chest (here)…as though he didn’t care a whit he was dancing with his g’ma, while Mommy, Dennis, Astrid and Uncle Mark watched!

And just like that, it was once again heaven on earth. 

How does this happen?  Something so simple becoming so powerful.  Losing self-consciousness.  Blowing all caution to the wind.  Going for broke.  Giving no regard to what anyone else thinks.

Is it a choice we make in an instant?  Is it as easy as flipping a switch?  Does someone have to give us permission?  Do we need guidance…or does it come from a place deep within us since the foundation of the world?

And why doesn’t it happen more often?  If we’ve tasted it before, why don’t we just jump at every chance we get?  Who told us we couldn’t do it?  When did we start believing we had anything but magic at our fingertips? 

And where is it written we can’t make heaven on earth?  Who said we couldn't decide for ourselves?

On Facebook, before leaving, I saw the following and smiled, anticipating what had already been set into motion by all of you who cheered us on:

So, I took your advice and danced like no one was watching.
My court date is later this month.

Thank you…and smile like you mean it!  :)

 

The Fruits of Labor

Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. 
--Confucius

Happy Labor Day to all my American friends.

This is my first time to celebrate this holiday since 2009.
The first time to participate in a BBQ since 2009.
The first time to watch the Braves play baseball (on TV) since 2009.

And all this with my 2 kids, SIL and grandson in Atlanta!
Let’s just say I’m one happy camper.

(And to keep you in suspenders,
next time I’ll tell you how Astrid and I did indeed dance our feet off at The Farm Wedding!)

All Geared Up

All geared up and ready to go!

As we speak, Astrid and I are packing for our annual trip westward over the Big Pond next week.  We’ll land first in Michigan for my favorite nephew’s wedding on The Farm, after which we’ll fly to Atlanta to be with my kids, grandson and friends the following 2 weeks.

Without belaboring the point, some of you know my conservative, fundamentalist, Christian, preacher-father family history.  However, in the same kind of way I usually do NOT like to use the gay/lesbian/homosexual words to describe myself, I do NOT like calling myself a Christian, even though I mostly am.  I just don’t like the negative definitions and interpretations that have nothing to do with either.  I’m a lesbian, but…not like that.  I’m a Christian, but…not like that.  And no, it’s not an oxymoron.

Which brings me to dancing at the wedding.  Astrid and I have a daily practice of dancing which is very important to us both.  However, knowing this could be a touchy situation for many in the family (for whom dancing is still relatively new), I wrote Peter to ask his honest druthers about our dancing at his wedding.  This isn’t about us but about him, I said.  Luckily, he generously replied that he and Andrea would be offended if we didn’t!  In fact, her sister will be bringing her girlfriend and plan to dance the night away.

Did I mention this will be the first time most of my extended family will finally meet Astrid (after our 5 years of knowing each other this month)?!  Astrid takes it all in stride.  She doesn’t care if they like and accept her or not.  She is who she is, she says.  Take it or leave it.

I wish I could be so…tame.

Which brings me to the absentee ballot I’ll fill out in Atlanta for the November election.  Who do you think will quicker facilitate Astrid moving back to America with me as my wife?!  As she prepares to retire in the next couple of years, her Euro and my dollar will both go much farther there.  I’d like to think we’ll have that choice once the time comes, even if we decide not to do it. 

I want the possibility.  The option.  Without having to ask.  For all of it…the dancing, the moving.  I don’t really ask for much, do I?  To be honest, I wish I wasn’t even having this conversation!  Do you get as sick and tired of it as I do?

What is it they say to never talk about in a public forum like this:  sex, religion and politics?!  Okay, then.  You didn’t hear any of this from me.

It’s time.  Time for a lot of things.  Time for change?  But for right now, we really are all geared up and ready to go, which is so much better than the alternative, all dressed up and nowhere to go, don’t you think?

Wish us peace.  Wish us shalom.  Life is short (tick tock).  Life is good.  We keep believing all things!

When Mercury Goes Retrograde

Mercury stands atop the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, NL

…ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!

Three to 4 times every year and for approximately 3 weeks at a time, planet Mercury goes retrograde.  That is, it slows down in its orbit around the Sun.  The dates for this year, 2012, are:

March 12 – April 4
July 14 – August 8
November 6 – November 26

Yup, we’re smack-dab in the middle of a Mercury Retrograde (MR) and have almost 2 more weeks to go.  So what?!

Mercury, that mythological Messenger of the Gods, happens to “rule” everything related to communication and transportation, that’s what!  Perception, language, writing, editing, research, speaking, learning, the assessment of data, telecommunications, computing, software, electronic gadgets, cameras(!), the postal service, shipping, couriers, wires, cables, machines with moving parts.

When Mercury retrogrades, it scrambles information and causes static and confusion…which is why it’s not a good time to sign contracts, complete important transactions, make big decisions or purchases, especially electronics (if you don’t want a lemon!).

Everyone in the whole wide world can be affected when Mercury retrogrades but especially Gemini (moi) and Virgos (my wife) who are astrologically “ruled” by the rascal.  Astrid and I always laugh a bit nervously when these times come around because we know we need to PAS OP! (= Pay Attention!).  When we’re driving anywhere, we expect delays/detours and are pleasantly surprised when they don’t happen.  We write everything down to make sure we don’t forget anything.

Once I sheepishly told my preacher dad about MR, not knowing if he’d pooh-pooh me into the ground.  He started laughing and said, “Oh, you mean that’s what happened when Mom and I drove home from Virginia the other day and I had forgotten where I put my glasses!  The next day I found them in the corner of the luggage rack on top of the car!”  Bingo.  Lucky for him, they never fell off during the entire drive to Michigan!

Stupid, crazy, silly, frustrating, befuddling, infuriating, aggravating things happen during MR.  You forget where you put things.  You buy something you regret.  You can’t find the right words to say or write.  Before auto-save happened on the computer, you’d lose whole documents.  [Remember the Jesus Saves computer joke!]  Sometimes you lose your whole computer!  Or your camera falls into the lake.  Or you copy people in e-mails you didn’t mean to.  You press Send before you intend, you lose your comment on FB…. 

Yada Yada Yada.  Been there, done that.

But here’s the GOOD NEWS:  MR is the best time in the world to finish things you’ve already started, so all is not lost!  The closet you started cleaning out, the book you were reading/writing, the trip you were planning, the knitting project, the garden….  When Mercury slows down (like now!), it’s the perfect time to tie up those loose ends.  In fact, Mercury will help you finish them.  He needs calming down himself and would like nothing better than for all of us to just slow down a bit.

Why would the Universe give us Mercury retrograde? Because to move forward it is sometimes necessary to backtrack and reconfigure our paths in life. It is important to reconsider, repair, reflect, and reconnect. Mercury forces us to slow down and fix what's broken, and in so doing, rethink things.  It also gives us time to get to projects we have put on the back-burner.—Susan Miller

Give yourself permission.  You know you want to.  Breathe in, breathe out.

For those of you still rolling your eyes, I bet you believe in the effects of the full moon, right?  I rest my case.