Sometimes we do things and we aren’t sure why. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes not. One of the things I have done in my life that falls into the good category is deciding to learn to dance. My dancing career goes back 50 years. Then it was only beer-fueled tavern dancing. Then an untimely auto accident and the attending three years of pain and encroaching family obligations pushed it to the back shelf to gather dust. Fast forward 50 years, two or three clicks and I was back in it. Not where I left off, but a totally new experience. The experience lasted less than three months. Things were going great and then along came covid19 and slammed me into that metaphorical telephone pole. I only stated this to give a little context. Actually, this post is going in a slightly different direction than you might think.
I am going to talk about the three months from a socio-political perspective. The three-month period was very intense. I probably spent more time at it than ninety percent of the people who take the commercial route to learn to dance. I observed something I believe is truly unique and one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much. I have interacted with two studios, ten different instructors and danced with an estimated 150 different people. This is what I have observed. A dance studio is a unique place, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. When you walk through the door, you are entering a different world, a neutral zone. There is no politics, no religion, no racism, no gender identification issues, no economic stratification, everybody is kind to everyone, everyone respects everyone else’s level of expertise. Any competition is just friendly. Everybody helps and supports others. Most of the people are there because this is a happy place for them. Sounds like utopia, right? My open question to the universe and I include myself in that, is: If we have proven it can happen, why don’t we see more of this feeling in other places? Are we just not dancing enough?
Pete's Wisdom 