Of Hurts and Happiness.

When I was a child, I loved to dance.
Now, I'm not talking ballet, jazz, hip-hop, swing, foxtrot, bunny hop, twist, salsa, zumba or breakdancing.
Dudes, I not even talking line-dance or the two-step shuffle.
I'm talking uninhibited, crazy, wild dancing.
Most likely it looked like I was having an epileptic seizure while standing.
But, man, did it feel good.

When I got older, my sister, Crystal, and I would shake it up (and get on down) in our front foyer.  It was spacious and our family's ghetto-blaster was located there.  We would pop in our favourite cassettes and turn the tunes up loud (as loud as we could without someone bellowing "Turn that music DOWN!")
Then, we would spin and shimmy and side-step like mad.  We even had some homemade dance routines down pact.
I think we could still dance in sync like those good ole days.
With Abba crooning about a "Dancing Queen".
Or the record player at our cousin's house spinning round and round while Cyndi Lauper belted out "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".

I grew older still and Paul and I took some uber-cheapo ballroom dance lessons at Fred Astaire's Dance Studio in Hamilton.  Some friends of ours were taking lessons and we joined them for five whole lessons.
We fox-trotted.
We waltzed.
We tangoed.
(and, let me tell you, that Paul-of-mine can tango!)

At this point, you are most likely wondering, Brigette-Dude, what's with the dance blog?
Just bear with me for a minute.
There is a point to all this!
I'm not just waxing eloquent reminiscences on you all!
I promise!

Because yesterday, in the midst of mourning and despair, I saw someone dancing.

I've been struggling with despair a bit lately.  My moods are up and down and all around.
There is a part of me that keeps whispering, "What's the point?  Why the fight?  Why bother?"  Because I keep hearing about people with recurring cancer.
Or people with ravaging cancer.  
Or people who have died from cancer.
Like a 13 year old boy who got to wear his graduation gown but will never go to high school.

Sometimes it's so much work to push forward.

Have you ever had days like that?
You wake up and just want to fall back asleep because in sleep, sorrows are silenced, despair is deadened, and peace prevails.

Even been in a room full of happy people and a song comes on that used to make you scream "EEEEK, I LOVE THIS SONG" but at that moment, you just want to sob in a corner?
This life can be pretty stinkin' rough sometimes.

But then.....God.....sending subtle reminders that get all lodged up in my brain.

Like a dancing guy who I write about because he was just was so hilariously uninhibited.

And my kids' memory work from last week:  "REJOICE ALWAYS, PRAY CONTINUALLY, GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES...."

And then my workout tunes belting out "I wanna dance.....I wanna dance.....ooo I'm no good at dancing....but I gotta do something" and then "We live to dance another day..."

And then people start responding to my blog about Micheal.  A blog that was so sad and mournful but that ended in a strange way because I could not get the dancing guy out of my head.  He didn't seem to fit but something compelled me to write him in there.

Dancing.

And a friend of mine - Alicia - told me to look up "the Dancing Man of Hamilton" because there actually is one!  He is #18 in an article entitled "22 Signs you Grew Up in Hamilton".
His name is Jed Lifeson.
He grew up in Serbia and moved to Canada when he was 14 years old.
His cousin is a guitarist in the band, Rush.

This man came home one day to find his mother dying.  She was rushed to the hospital while Jed prayed.  He prayed and asked God to not take his mother JUST YET, because he had not said goodbye.  Seventeen days later, his mother awoke from a diabetic coma and Jed was bursting with joy.
Apparently he ran out of the hospital praising God and danced all the way home.
Apparently, he dances everywhere he goes now because he is so full of happiness.
Apparently, he has been dancing on the streets for years.

In an interview he admits that when he first moved to Hamilton, he hated it because everyone was so MISERABLE.  But now he loves Hamilton, because he has come to recognize that everyone is actually just HURTING so much.
But Jed is filled with happiness and he dances his happiness on out.
Bringing smiles, laughter, dancing and inspiration where-ever he goes.

Wow.

Can you imagine?
Letting your joy spill up and over so that where-ever you go people feel blessed by you.
Can you imagine?
Blessing others by doing what you love to do.

You are happy.  You love to dance.  You dance to share your joy.
You are musical.  You love to sing and play guitar.  You play to raise awareness for a cause.
You are athletic.  You love sports.  You start up a league that promotes prayer and reaches out to kids who cannot afford to play sports.
You have a green thumb.  You love to grow things.  You grow produce in your huge garden and donate it all to a food bank.
You are a great cook.  You love to fiddle with recipes.  You triple up that recipe batch and bring meals to others.

Inspirational.
Encouraging.
Intentional.
Beautiful.

Isn't it?

Sometimes it's easy to get bogged down in the ick of it all.
Cancer.
Death.
Infertility.
Murder trial.
Shootings.

Good thing God gives us subtle reminders,
constant reminders
and one another to lift each other UP and OUT of that bog.

I think I'm gonna go get out my dancing shoes, baby.

Cuz tonight, it's time to dance!


Signing off and Praising His Name with dancing,
Brigette
(Psalm 149:3)


Check out Jed Lifeson on YouTube.  "Human Stories:  JED - the Dancing Guy"*
* thanks to Alicia Looyenga and Joy Horsman for directing my attention to him.

 "....a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance..."  Ecclesiastes 3: 4

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.  O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!"  Psalm 30: 11, 12