When have you felt this free
I recently got back from a trip to Ireland, (one of my favorite places in all the world) but more on that later in a different post.
Today, I want to share about a scene I saw unfold while standing on a street corner in Galway, Ireland, watching a young street performer dance for the crowds.
Galway is known for its street performers called, buskers. They are very talented artists that perform regularly for the crowds, earning tips, applause, and widespread YouTube coverage. It makes the streets of Galway boisterous and entertaining, and anyone can see a variety of performances in just a few short blocks; day and night, seven days a week.
On this sunny Sunday, I was out strolling the shops with my mother and sister. They had popped into a tiny corner shop to look at the jewelry, and, while they went inside, I stood by the shop door and watched a young woman dancing a traditional Irish dance. Now, if you have never seen Irish dancing, imagine the scenes from Riverdance.
Lots of high kicks and straight upper bodies. It is a true feat of athleticism and strong knees.
Anyway, this dancer was quite talented and entertaining, but what quickly drew the attention of the crowd was a young girl, maybe four years of age, dressed in her Sunday finery. She was off to the side, standing with what probably was her parents and a grandmother and having just been released from church, it was clear that she was ready to move and be free.
She slowly started to mimic the dancer,
moving cautiously, testing her dancing shoes in front of a huge crowd of strangers and enjoying the skirt of her sundress as it billowed out underneath her fingertips.
Whatever intimidation she felt in the beginning with her small little steps, quickly fell by the wayside. She started leaping and twirling, flapping her arms about to the music. The dancer quickly noticed her and invited her to dance in the center of the circle. The girl gladly abandoned her spot on the sidelines and joined in, at one point running back to her mother so she could remove her white button-down sweater, so she could move more freely.
What emanated from her was a pure unselfconscious, playful joy. We were all mesmerized.
Soon the crowd also began to feel joyful, smiling at her ability to let go and be free in the moment, (something we adults often feel inhibited to do in such a public way, well unless we have had too much to drink but that is not the same thing at all).
Through her joy, we all were transported back to the place where we remembered being young and free and childish. A place where we didn’t check all our thoughts and actions at the grown-up door of respectability.
Where we remembered what it was like to be little and open.
To ride the playground swing with reckless abandon, to run through a field and roll among the flowers down the hill, to twirl and dance and laugh because it just felt so good.
Finally, the song came to an end and the moment was over. The little girl put her sweater back on and continued on down the road with her family, the performer took a drink of water and went back to business, and we all moved on our ways. Back to the everyday habit of behaving and acting just as we ought to, behaving like the respectable grown-ups that we know ourselves to be.
No silly impromptu dancing, no twirling with our busy agendas.
My mother, sister and I headed down the street as well, popping into shops, looking for souvenirs, the moment almost forgotten. But, it seemed as the days went on, I couldn’t get the image of the little girl out of my head. And she has traveled home with me on the airplane, inviting me to check in with my playful side.
Asking me to look at the places where I feel that free to let go.
One of the things that came to mind was something that my son and I have done for years, ever since he was a little boy. Whenever we see a large open meadow, usually while hiking or traveling, we always run into it and dance and act goofy pretending that we are in The Sound of Music, singing at the top of our lungs that the “hills are alive”.
It never occurs to us that someone might be watching. We don’t worry that we might look silly or ridiculous, we just let go and enjoy. We would probably never consider doing this in other place but luckily, this gift from childhood has held over and not been filtered out with all the other adult stuff that we do regularly. It is one place that we let ourselves be kids again, allowing ourselves to just let go and be free.
I realized though, that even though we still have this tradition we still don’t allow ourselves to be playful and free on a regular basis. It is not something that is usually part of my everyday life. And, I found myself wondering,
when was the last time I felt as free as that little girl dancing in the street?
I worry that maybe I have become more of a spectator these days, more likely to stay on the sidelines and watch the world go by in all its majesty and beauty and wonder. That I have become less of a dancer, less playful than I should be on a regular basis. And, although I always love a good spin and a great big belly laugh, I don’t allow myself to do it often enough. I don’t drop my sweater by the wayside and let the music or the game course through my body just because it can.
That maybe, I have allowed my everyday life to get to busy to make room for play.
How about you?
Perhaps it is time to ask yourself the same question -
When did you last dance like crazy to the music?
Or roll down a hill, laughing all the way to the bottom? Maybe you are someone who does this on a regular basis? If so, could you possibly help others tap into this freedom more easily?
How can we all be committed to answering the call to be more joyful and silly? To let go and be free and playful, without worrying about what others might think or say?
What would that look like for you?
As we head into our busy, adult lives of responsibility and to-do lists, try to remember to look for those moments that invite us to take off that sweater, loosen up the things that are holding us back and simply dance.
I have no doubt that we will all be surprised at how wonderful and foolish and silly we feel. And if you are one of the people that already dance and sing and twirl,
grab a hand and invite someone to join you in the dance.
Share the joy with each other.
I promise I will be twirling along with you, loving every minute of it.