Dancing with Joy
Last night I danced for the first time in months.
The weight of the pandemic followed by George Floyd’s death and the resulting protests stopped me from dancing. Grief settled on me like a heavy blanket, stopping my feet from moving.
Over this summer, the situation become worse. Covid 19 entered my building and I was working with Covid 19 positive patients on a daily basis. My aunt died. My most cuddly cat died. So much of what I love about summer was cancelled: Summerfest, Wisconsin State Fair, free outdoor concerts. Depression settled on me. It was hard to find the energy to be joyful.
Last night I hit rock bottom, driven by the scenes from Kenosha, a town I know well and reading tweets and comments from people who are promoting the murder of people they perceive as liberals. How could this country, this world be any worse than this? Citizens not caring that people are dying of Covid 19. Citizen promoting murder. This is unimaginable to me.
So I danced. Joy fights misery. Light fights darkness. The human spirit is resilient. It is not my nature to stay in a dark place for any length of time.
Still feeling low, I turned on the music and put one foot in front of the other. Soon the music took over and changed my mood: from dark to light, energy flowing through me, giving me the strength to move forward through whatever comes next.
This morning I woke up still feeling energized. I am not blinded or less empathetic to what’s going on around me. I now have greater coping skills. The dance offsets the grief, adding a counterpoint to what was already present.
Comments