Dances With Joy

She was beautiful in this moment. Though I only heard silence and the occasional voice from beyond the camera lens. She was dancing. A slender girl with limbs moving to an unheard rhythm. I could imagine the music by the emotions that emanated from her. She was a girl dancing alone with pure joy.

This tender moment of the magical soul was captured by my son-in-law, Michele. This girl, now a woman, is my eldest daughter Amber. I watched this video and felt my heart bursting. She was happy. She was joyful. She was dancing.

I imagine that when Michele walked up and began to watch the splendor of the dance that his love grew. How could it not? This freeness of spirit and lover of life is hard to find in most people. And yet, I believe the fullness of the expression of joy comes through love found, love bound, and love grounded by experience. She dances because she loves and is loved. He watches because he loves and is loved. 

I have been reflective during this unknowing time. Many moments capture my attention and are weaved with memories of the before. I am so thankful to get glimpses of living. They bring me hope, they bring me joy, they bring me peace. I have become a student of the dying and the living. I want to learn how this is expressed through each of the unique encounters with the breathing. 

Music. Music has power to change your mood, to lift your spirits, to fight your war, to bring you to tears and to heal your tears. I used to listen to music all the time. Somehow, I had forgotten this medicinal joy giver. I could not hear the music which Amber listened to but I could hear the joy by just watching. 

No matter your age, no matter your favorite genre, music can make you tap your toes, bob your head, and sway gently when you are in the grocery store line. But for some with the joyful soul of living out loud, it can bring on a full out dance party even when you are all alone. 

I’m going to start listening to…WOW, so many great choices but one of my favorites is Into the Mystic (yes, I am that old) and another is That Girl is on Fire (yes, I am that young). And tonight, I’m thinking of dancing through the decades all by myself. Want to join me? What’s your favorites?

Thank you Amber for dancing with Joy!

Thank you Michele for capturing it on camera!