Gordon and I have been dancing in the basement now, off and on, for quite a few months. We've chipped a fair amount of paint off the basement floor. Not every session is remarkable, but sometimes together we find a groove in the music that turns me inside out. Today was one of these days.
Just before Thanksgiving, I decided that I was hitting a creative and kinetic wall and frankly, tired of banging my head on it. It seemed to me the solution would be to add a new stimulus - a wooden floor that would provide a more rewarding percussive sound than my painted concrete basement floor (wholly inappropriate for flamenco dancing). I made a trip to Home Depot with high hopes, but after perusing the infinite number of wood-like products you can use as flooring, decided I did not possess the know-how to decide which would be best. The project would have to be deferred. (Stay tuned.)
So I packed my dancing shoes and flew down south for Thanksgiving. Sadly I did not pull them out of my bag even once. I did, however, eat steadily for six days.
After plumping myself up over the holidays, it was time to get back into the basement in Anchorage. On a whim today, I decided on a costume change during practice.
It turns out that a loud flowery red shirt and black nylons can be the components of an amazing creative defribillation. The slight change in costuming was like a sledgehammer to the wall. As Gordon and I twirled about the basement, finding The Groove That Wasn't Here Yesterday, Dancing Like We've Never Danced Before, I realized that sometimes life is about just going through the motions. The bland dance sessions can be discouraging, but getting into the basement is the key. Every motion we make in our day has a ripple effect - it leads to unexpected delights and curious turns and spins we could not have deliberately designed. I learn something new about myself in those moments simply by keeping myself in motion. And When The Groove Has Finally Arrived, I am poised and ready for it to set me free.
Who wants to be sitting on the couch When The Groove Is Finally Here?
So here's to walls coming down and to cutting up the basement!
