Beauty in the ordinary
Rolled out of bed and stretched the aches of the night out. How is it that I still feel tired after so many hours of rest?
Felt the warm water run through my hair and onto my body. I love long showers. Today’s no different.
As I get dressed, I notice my thoughts wander off to the day ahead. It’s World Dance Day. I should do something special no? Choreograph something? Dance freestyle to my favourite music? Practice for class tomorrow?
Scrolled through social media and instantly find myself drawn to all the world dance day related feed. How inspirational! How creative! How interesting…and how overwhelming!
Why do I feel as I have to keep up by doing something extra ordinary? I know this is no competition, but the quickening of my heart tells me that my body feels a sense of urgency.
I light the incense for my morning routine of yoga and meditation and watch as the smoke rises in wisps…rises up in patterns…then disappears.
I go out into the balcony for some sunlight and watch the clouds drift along the blue canvass. They’re in no hurry. They too like the wisps of smoke disappear from my sight.
It was breakfast time. The smell of freshly brewed coffee, the sound of hard toast crunching in my mouth and the sweetness of the banana after…
The feeling when my husband hugs me and asks if I had a good sleep and kisses me on my forehead.
Today I want to celebrate the beauty in the ordinary fleeting moments. Dance has been a tool to help me discover and appreciate the beauty in the smallest of moments. It is about the big stuff when you have an audience and a stage and the adrenaline rush that comes with it, and more about the small stuff too…
It trains you to capture these million memory prints and dig them out when you’re emoting to “traditional pieces”. Yes, Krishna and the Gopis frolicking in the forest, a mother’s pain of losing her beloved son, the wonder when Rama breaks the bow at the suyamvara…these epics seem to be out of the world and if taken literally is hard to fathom contextualizing in today’s times.
Yet, these epics have lived on because of their eternal truths and timeless tales. There are layers that remain uncovered and mysteries that bind their stories to our own personal stories.
I shake with laughter, wipe away tears of sadness, stand in awe, jump with excitement, freeze in fear, fume in anger…I feel a lot more intensely because dance has trained me to do so.
And there is beauty in all of that.
