Positively Dance Like Your Mommy is Watching, Face 18

Eyes twinkling and giggling, this little cutie is so proud of her own dancing and  spinning, posing and bending, twisting, and twirling.  Music flutters in her soul like a butterfly in a garden of summer flowers, conducting every muscle, every breath, every cell of her tiny graceful body to perform for her adoring audience.

My little cousin performed for me at Christmas time. She was so proud of herself in her little pink and white dress.  She danced on her toes, she did forward rolls, she pointed her toes, she watched herself in the mirror as her little tutu twirled around her petite body and her eyes twinkled like stars. A reminiscent feeling swept over me and I began to think about the quote of encouragement:

"You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,

Love like you'll never be hurt,

Sing like there's nobody listening, 

And live like it is heaven on earth."

Indeed, a very beautiful and motivational cheer to try something for pure enjoyment and not worry about what others are thinking.  But did you ever as a child, dance like there was no tomorrow for your parents and relatives?  I remember as a little girl, along with my sister and cousins, choreographing dances for our parents to watch.  We would dress up in costumes, my mom's old dresses that were housed in the "rag box", or we would carefully wrap around our waists hand crocheted ponchos that our moms made for us; and then, we put on a big dance recital downstairs in the basement.  We would spin and spin and spin to get our "skirts" to flare up and then we would giggle and giggle and giggle because it was so much fun to get dizzy and fall over.  Our moms would sit their grinning and grinning and grinning, and laughing and laughing and laughing and finally, clapping and clapping and clapping, filling our little hearts with love till they almost burst!

Yes, now that we are older, we feel greater comfort to dance like no one is watching, but I argue that we should dance like our mommies and aunties are watching.  That feeling you had as a kid dancing for your mommy and aunties can never be replaced by the feeling you get dancing now like no one is watching! That feeling of love and support that only your loved ones can give you for all the creative crazy fun things that you concocted, no matter what you looked like dancing, is a far greater feeling than simply dancing for yourself.  

Positively dance like your mommy and aunties are watching.  It felt so good then, and feels so good remembering now.