I definitely don’t dance enough, but now I think I should really start dancing all the time. You know how movies have sound tracks? Imagine what it would be like if music played in the background in real life. Do you think it would influence how we feel and react, or would our moods, speech, and actions cue the appropriate music? When I watch a musical, I can’t help thinking about how unrealistic it all is. And I like musicals, but really, no one ever just bursts into song and dance, with everyone around them joining in for a perfectly coordinated and choreographed spontaneous song and dance routine. I know that’s why we see movies- for entertainment, but still…

The other day I took on a project at home. It was a huge project: I finally bit the bullet and cleaned my closet. I could pat myself on the back and say that I was being very responsible, tackling an unpleasant chore while there were many other thing I could have been doing instead, but I should look myself in the eye and admit that I did it because I had no choice. In the last few days I’ve gotten hit on the head way too many times looking for things in the tangle of my very disorganized closet. There was no way I could put it off any longer; it was time.

But there had to be a way to make it tolerable so I took my iPod along for some company. I usually listen to music in the car and almost every store I ever go into has music playing, so it’s not like I’m music deprived. But I don’t usually put my iPod on shuffle and just let it do its thing, and that was so much fun! I love my music! I’ve been collecting it since I got that iPod and set up an iTunes account years ago and over time I’ve built quite a collection. I won’t flatter myself; I know that I’m not cool enough for my music to be universally considered great stuff, but it works for me! So I quickly got my closet under control, feeling so inspired by the music. I sang along, I got up to boogie a little here and there, and I thought “Why don’t I do this more often?” Not clean my closet- I mean listen to music and move to it.

I will not pretend I am a good dancer, but who knows? Maybe I am and I don’t know about it because I don’t do it enough- but my point is that it doesn’t matter at all. I’m not looking for a career as a dancer and I wasn’t even at a dance club minding my own business among a crowd. I was minding my own business at home and just letting go and it was so liberating and energizing that I recommend it to everyone. Moving to music has got to have multiple benefits. It’s almost guaranteed that dancing to music will make you happy. The music itself is good for relieving stress and anxiety, and dancing along with it will only boost the positive effect. Moving around is also great exercise. What I’m saying may be obvious, but if you’ve never tried it, I hope you’ll give it a whirl one of these days.