Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Living Life Large

Another gorgeous day, and to top it off tonight I have dance class with my daughter. I have so enjoyed the chance to spend time with her the last year or so. It was a deep and abiding grief to me when she moved out at 16 and over the intervening years I saw very little of her. It is still hard to express what that felt like. I missed being a part of her daily life. I feel like I missed out on so many things. And now as an adult she is so much fun to spend time with. I am so thankful for the opportunity to get to know her.

Last week’s dance class was pure entertainment. In the words of my daughter I felt like a great big dork. How can it be so complicated? It probably is not that complicated, my body just did not want to cooperate. It is just a matter of tapping your feet on the floor … how hard can that be? Yeah … that’s right really, really hard. I watched in amazement as the advanced group did complicated patterns and combinations. But regardless of my lack of coordination, I had a lot of fun. There was much laughter (not all of it at me) and a lot of hard work.

I think that this dance class is very healthy for me. It gets me moving, it gets me socializing and it forces me to focus beyond myself and it draws me closer to my daughter. It is probably one of the most important things I do during the week. I think perhaps that the most important moments in life are not often lived on the big screen in big and important ways, it is in the small everyday moments. That is living life large. Tonight I am living large in small ways. I can already feel my toes tapping.

"Then maidens will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow." Jeremiah 31:13

Just Connie

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