Dance Like Nobody's Watching - Art & Story by Sandra Russell

 

We all have some sort of title/identifier we introduce ourselves with; and it is required to have a quick response when asked What do you do? Answers tend to be brief, polite and simple. Such things as I'm a housewife, I'm an Rn, or I teach fourth grade in the city school system. This is normal sorts of information, about how someone earns a living, and maybe these titles indicate a certain direction of interest? Like I'm a physics professor creates a different set of expectations from the meeting, a sort of distance or closeness depending upon your own background and interests. 

Compare expectations for I'm a physics professor to I'm a middle-school physical education teacher, to I'm playground monitor and cafeteria worker...Even with these variables, everyone that I have ever met, is MORE than any of these titles, more than any expectation. 

We Americans have enjoyed a freedom not everyone invites to their "bucket list". We are told to expect great things from life, maybe in school told that “Anyone can grow up to be the president of the United States.” A picture and story of Abe Lincoln often accompanies this lesson. It's not actually true; temperament and ambition, skill and popularity all sorts of conditions decide who might be a president at one time but not another. In America the freedom to believe it is possible is not only allowed, it's expected from us to dream big, to expect much.

As we mature and take on responsibilities of our chosen careers or family concerns, it is easy to see ourselves as that one thing. I'm a mom who works as a clerk. Or I'm a doctor and my patients need me 24/7. That is my life. We are though, more than all of that.

I saw a mechanic today and because I shared a bit of my art with him, he shared a song with me that he wrote for his son. He wanted to work out a performance piece to share a relationship with his son. So, not only is this man a mechanic; he is not only a father, he is a pro-active relationship builder, he knows the limited time he has to influence or build the bonds with a child.  Years in a child's life are like dog years. You don't get to just declare I'm a father and pose for holiday dinners...it's a living breathing relationship, with a few windows open to share in any vivid way, and that window may be open today, but not on Easter?

What I have found over the years is that people have many lovely sides. I found a lost dog and returned it to a man who was a sales clerk, but whose passion was for canning fruit and vegetables. Not just storing and preserving food, but for making the most beautiful arrangements from the shapes and colors of the food  in the jars. This guy composed shelves of peaches and plums, cherries and ??? in aesthetic arrangements that would rival stained glass windows! How lovely to see people doing something just because of…? Joy?

My cousin, a nurse is also an incredible quilter. My singing friend in Atlanta, holds a biology degree from Stanford, and works as a yoga instructor. I love seeing these other sides of people, the part of them that just has to manifest. No audience required. No valuation of effort in the form of grants or other income. Done without looking at a time clock, or approval by a supervisor. They 'dance' like no one is watching, and reveal some of the most interesting parts of themselves. Carry on!