What is my point, you ask? My point is that these are all the ways people recommend shutting up their minds, relaxing... and they just don't work for me.
Everyone has something that puts them at ease... Running, painting, yoga, cooking, cleaning, whatever. It's that one thing in the world that gives you that feeling of "ahhhhhh." It puts your mind at ease because instead of concentrating on whatever it was that was bothering you in the first place, you concentrate on what you're doing and eventually that thing that was bothering feels like less of a burden.
But see, for me those things do the opposite half the time. Instead of clearing my mind, they just provide me with extra time to think more intensely about what it was that was gnawing at my consciousness.
I've discovered that my thing... is a little ridiculous. Partially because I'm pretty terrible at it (and people who do things frequently tend to at least get a little better at them) and partially because I think that deep down, it's all of our thing...
It's the only time I'm focusing on the now, the present, what's going on in front of my eyes instead of inside my head. It's exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. It pushes me to a physical and emotional limit.
I love to dance.
It's one of humanity's oldest forms of release. Music fused with movement; it's sheer genius.
For those of you thinking, "oh, I don't dance." Well, then you're a fool and you're missing out on one of the most fundamental pleasures of being a human being.
You know that episode of Grey's Anatomy (okay, you probably don't because you have standards/dignity...) where something terrible happens (shocking) and Meredith walks into the room to find Cristina getting down? And Cristina turns to her and says:
It's the perfect solution.
I don't know how... But it makes everything... go away. And not just temporarily, that's the key point.
The morning after a night of heavy dancing, I have the same problems as I did the day before but I also have a new perspective on them. They seem somehow less burdening and I'm more likely to face them head on and deal with them instead of sidestepping them and allowing them to further fuel my unhappiness and self-doubt.
It's not like sleeping or watching television or surfing Reddit, which I also do a decent amount of, where you're more or less tuning out or running away from your issues. Dancing is a form of dealing with it all.
Throwing your body around a room and flailing your arms around like you're running away from a bee, for a reason I will never fully understand, just makes you feel better. It's like you're hurling your problems at the wall and even if they get thrown back at you, this time you're more prepared to handle them. You can whip your hair back and forth and shake the tension and doubt right out of your bones. And if there's some lyrics to sing to? Forget about it. You just made yourself smile without even trying.
I have no idea why dancing is the answer but it just always is.
So, shut up. And go dance it out.
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