The Dance of the Nuance Fairy

Precision. Perfection. Perception. Process. Interpretation.

The important difference(s) between splitting a hair.  Crossing the fine line. Seeing crystal clear. Numb the pain. Close your eyes. It will go away. Fall asleep it will go away. Escape. Here is better than there. And Vice Versa.

Splitting the difference. The crucial importance of not using and knowing what the difference is in using what and who as a bargaining chip. Which chip is the most important ingredient? Better start stock piling them now. Sooner rather than later….

The most important moment. Of Reflection. Remembering. 

Reflection. Moments that take our breath away. Humility as the point of departure. All tip toeing around the moment. Dancers of the dance.

Recognized by astute dance professionals by the feel of the moment. The desire to correct and the recognition of a mistake in causing a person to stumble by putting temptation in their way. The desire for true love as weathering the storms of distraction and tumultuous moments. The outcome unknown until it is known. The difference between knowing and describing. 

One man’s thought vs. another man’s vision.

And. Sometimes forgetting or misplacing  the subjects subserviant in the process. Beating them, one way or another, into some form of obedience. It becomes not a matter of paying attention, but of motivation. Not of intent, but the so called dance willing to break. The break dance. The rap to wrap music. The melody in our and stuck in our ears as we are unable to “get it out” “A catchy little tune”  is an old fashioned phrase used to describe music. Music and its movement. Its influence if you will. Nuance of what we “hear” vs. what we “listen” to. We have a choice. Or. At least we used to. Bombardment of noise. Causing us to stutter and twitch.

Recognizing when change is simply for change. And not for good. To run away from packaged as blame.  To run to, packaged as “safety.” Or when a flash across the face screams “help me.”! And we run away, not to. Stoicism aside. The ability to ask for a hand from a respected person. The hunger we all feel. But do not always know why or where it originates. Vulnerability danced around by hurt and sought after happiness. 

Ever more nuanced nowadays. The dance of children into adults is unfortunately fraught with doubt and confusion. Packaged as “opportunity”.  Adults behaving as children when setbacks occur. Adults folding their stubborn arms in front and stomping feet in defiance matures into a flowing production of gab and lip service.  Covers, book covers, advertisements, magazines (remember those?) Solicitation. Deliberation. Contemplation. Frustration. The music and dance turn into nothing more than noise. And robot dancing. The dance becomes stumbling, bumbling, tripping and falling. No grace to be seen. No control. Too much control.

A lie has speed but the truth has endurance.

Adaptation.  That is the ticket. Redemption. That is the ticket. Hallucination. That is the ticket. Cooperation. That is the ticket. Association. That is the ticket. Collaboration. That is the ticket.  Association. That is the ticket. On and on and on and on it goes.  Fantasy, Dream, Reality. The nuance is in the detail. The devil is in the details. Tragedy v. Comedy. Not always humorous. Foggy and blurry become married. No one sees the forest for the trees. Everyone is now blind. And stubborn. 

The stakes are so high.

The steaks are so high.

Who is calling all the shots anyway.? More importantly. Are they capable of calling their own shots.? A capable leader. A strong minded individual willing to sacrifice ego accolades. For the vulnerable. Or continuous intention of squashing little bugs at all buggy costs. Acumen is described as keenness and depth of perception, discernment, or discrimination.  Especially in practical matters.

Music and movement. Dance. The sock hop. Fox trot. Waltz. Two step. Box step. Macarena. The electric slide. The mixer. The grind. The moon walk. Disco. And numerous interpretations.

Generational means of communication.

Cotillion class. A formal dance program offered in the ‘70’s elementary school. A beautiful collection of 10,11,12 year olds dressed up smartly. Standing on opposite sides of a room. Girls wore dresses and gloves, boys wore jackets and ties. The old fashioned music began. Boys had to walk across the room and ask the girls to dance a song. Learning the steps as the instructor belted them out. So, so many giggles. Most of the time while dancing the boys and girls looked anywhere but into each others eyes. 

Discrimination aside. The moment was about learning. Not about convincing another. This was the awkward time in most lives, so looks were not on the table.(nor on anyone’s screens of our lives for goodness sake). No one was looking deeply into each other’s eyes. This life lesson was about learning decorum, discipline, discernment. There is something to be said about purity. Innocence. Believing in something bigger and better. Goodness. Respect. Of one another.

Lessons included being picked first and being picked last. But each person was picked to dance a dance. That was the best point of the cotillion class lesson. Paying attention. Moving our heads, hearts, hands and feet. Our abilities. Our capabilities. And. How  for one song we learned to be in control of our own little destiny. Just had to ask and be asked. Freedom for one song. So much personal power to learn. To practice. To SHARE. 

No one liked to be picked last. Who would. But the lesson was learned. In the safety net of school curriculum. Inclusion. And our response to the moment. Did we spend it sulking. Did we dance to our hearts content. We had a choice. We could make the most of the song, with our partner. Learn how it felt. Seek to improve. Learn from stepping on one another’s toes. Youth in this case, is NOT wasted on the young. It is guided, reared and hopeful. Because the goal is not inclusion at ALL costs. (Robbing Peter to pay Paul). But how we contribute to our inclusion. And more importantly. How we do.

As a comical side note. During this cotillion class one night. A young boy so called “class clown” danced his way over to the light switch. Hit the switch, the lights went off during a dance, and there were screams and giggles and pushed partners like you wouldn’t believe. Maybe even someone’s first kiss. Who knows! The boy received a detention after school for a week. The point being. To be included includes being included.  And knowing the difference when, not. 

Not excluded. Not labeled. Not postured. Not color coded. Not able. Not disabled. Not aged.  Not playing the victim card. This practice. Tends to NOT help. Tends to bring all  “mojo” down. Not up. Extend the inclusion by not extending the exclusion. Do not just talk the talk. Lip service is a cowardly man’s drink.

Walk a mile in another man’s shoes. You will learn very much.

Here is a dance that has not been figured out yet. Has not been choreographed yet.  No bumping or grinding. Won’t get it done in the long run. Because. It is a long run. For us all. Hopefully.

So.

Walk the walk. 

Walk on. 

Walk often 

Walk slow

Walk fast

Walk a mile in another man’s shoes. You will learn very much.

If you do NOT choose to walk the differences become too wide to heal. The gulf too great to cross. 

Healed people heal people.

Hurt people continue to hurt people.

Not good. Not cool. No one benefits. It robs Peter to pay Paul. And that is not sharing. It is stealing. And we learned that to be wrong as youth. Right?

“Round and round and round  it goes. And where it stops. Nobody knows.”  Another youthful lesson being practiced by adults today. Because they are really not “getting it”.  And the children are graciously waiting, sitting in their desks with masks on. While the adults bicker on and on and on and on.

Until someone actually stops it. In its tracks.

Remember. Older adults, the kids are still gracefully listening. And eager to learn. So. Get it together sooner rather than later. Throwing shade is not the answer. The kids are hungry for cryin’ out loud.

Happy Christmas Everyone.

The New Year looks to be a dance in production. In desperate need of serious rehearsals.

Some of the greatest thinking comes of reflection. Again. Take a good, long hard look in the mirror. Start here.

A keen mind and a sharp wit can pierce the soul as easily as a needle passes through cloth.

When you got the arm. You got the arm. Two left feet? No problem. There is a place for them too. A dance of different styles. Perhaps above average overlooked talent. Perhaps it was too white for someone’s taste.  Too gray. Too, whatever. Who is eating the crow now. While the rest have to sit and watch the colorful show. And now forced to listen to the endless back up stories of the plan. The plan that has hit a dead end. More people are suffering. More people are hurting. To drum up business?  May God have mercy on the souls who thought this was a good idea.

Spend time dancing. Or. spend time selling your soul. Juvenile.

Even if you “think” you are owed it, or that it is “your turn”. A level of soul searching is vital. It does not so much take a village. It takes a strong family. Warts and all.

We should all have learned by now. There is no such thing as a free lunch. (Or college tuition)You cannot snap or SNAP your fingers to make it go away. Or to make people go away. But. Eventually. You will have to look in the mirror and face your consequences. Nothing like a fresh, sparkly mirror staring back at you. And meet, you. What makes you, you. What makes you do what you do?

Reminder: 

From Papa

“The breakdown of a marriage causes immense suffering, since many hopes are dashed, and misunderstandings can lead to hurts not easily healed. Children have to suffer the pain of no longer seeing their parents no longer together.”

Parents are a child’s first teacher. Children look to their parents for stability, love, trust, STRENGTH.

Through prayer. If you choose.

Through deeply held beliefs. Of right and wrong.

Through action.

Forgiveness heals every wound. (Not talking about from the bank either🙃. )

Paper credit. Credit credit. It is all the same. And it is different.

Life lessons learned from a loyal dog.🐶 Dogs do not need to dance.

Looks fade. Perhaps, cannot teach an old dog new tricks.

But an old dog becomes pensive and willful. Stronger and wiser. Utilizing his energy in a way that conserves and frees up the mind. 

Not maimed at all. Steady, sturdy, studious. Instead of feeling the need to outsmart at all costs. The irony is the good dog shares all along their life. All his life. All her life. Humans often too self focused and selfish to see. To spend the time. So busy with the one upping.

Self deserving. Self serving. For some humans it takes a lifetime to own this selfishness. For some it is too late. It ravages the body along the way. Inside and outside. The dance to avoid death. Who wants to join that orchestral maneuvering? There is truth in: Cannot teach an old dog new tricks. But remember. Dogs seldom dance. Until a human grabs hold of the leash.

There is an old fashioned slang term for dancing. Let’s “cut a rug”. Will leave that reflection for you to ponder as we approach and dance into the New Year.

How, who with, or will you join the production currently on display on the screens of our personal hand held theatre?

For now. I plan to leave my saddle shoes at home.