What I Wrote

For the NPR This I Believe Competition in school.

Always Dance at the Wedding

I always dance at the wedding, do you? You should; I believe that.

Weddings are an occasion of joy and celebration, of life and of love. And so the procession goes on; the reception follows the ceremony, the dancing follows the dinner. The dancing, that is where the real celebration both begins and ends. It's all about the dancing. I always dance at the wedding.

Last week when I had the oppurtunity to join in celebrating a family member's marriage, I was thrilled. I had heard the band was to be exceptional, with my cousin on steel guitar! After the triage of ceremony, pictures, dinner; the band began to play. A few people trickled onto the dance floor, slowly but surely. They mingled here and there and visisted the bar a few times. After a fair amount of time, the floor was packed and everyone seemed to be having a good time. But boy, dancing gets me tired, so I had to take a break. As I stepped off the dance floor, i took a look around and saw a few folks sitting down, looking lonely, bored, as if they were having the worst time of their lives. It was hard for me to immediately relate to them, because I was having a great time, and why not? After all we were celebrating, the beginning of a new life. They looked to me like Ebeneezer Scrooge on Christmas and here we were supposed to be celebrating the love and commitment of two souls, a joyous occasion. Well Bah, Humbug.

My first thoughts about those with the gloomy 'bah humbug' attitude were; maybe they're too cool, too insecure, or maybe they just have no one to dance with. However, there are many thinks in life we cross that we may think we are too cool for, too insecure to try, and that we may have to go alone on, but that hardly seems to be a reason not to dance in celebration. Dancing to me is an embrace of the goodness in life, and a real expression of all things; the good, the bad, the pain, the bliss, our everyday joyous occasions, everything. Those that choose to sit this dance out, those looking bored, those that don't seem to have a reason to celebrate, miss out on this effortless expression of fun in life. At the end of the day, no one is too cool to dance. So I pulled them up and started the electric slide.

And it seems we all run into a Scrooge here and there in life that can't see the joy in the uninhibited dance of life and in fun; those that may even try to take it from us. However I always hold fast to what I believe, no matter who wants to ruin 'Christmas,' or my dance. I believe in dancing like no one else is watching. In dancing at the wedding, dancing in life, dancing for joy, dancing for fun, dancing because we can, if only for one song. Simple and real. This I Believe.