We gain strength and courage and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…
we must do that which we think we cannot.
Eleanor Roosevelt
I can dance…theoretically.
It might not be called good dancing by many people…but I can dance.
To dance, according to dictionary.com is…
- to move one’s feet or body, or both, rhythmically in a pattern of steps, especially to the accompaniment of music.
- to leap, skip, etc., as from excitement or emotion; move nimbly or quickly
Haven’t done much leaping or skipping lately. Hmmm…maybe I should.
I love the song “Brave” by Sara Bareilles.
Let me repeat that…
I LOVE the song “Brave” by Sara Bareilles…but the video is what makes the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4
There are all these different people – different ethnically, different physical body types, different ages – in all different places MOVING! DANCING! Ok…so maybe “dancing” is a stretch for what some of them are doing – but they are moving and Moving and MOVING! They hold nothing back! The song is about not keeping words in, about being brave enough to speak up. It is about not being a victim, about speaking the truth.
Is speaking up, breaking the silence, sharing deeply hidden truths and secrets about ourselves harder than breaking out into dance in the middle of a city street or a crowded mall? I’m not sure. But I know that for some of us they are equally as frightening.
Sara sings that…
Nothing’s gonna hurt you the way that words do
When they settle ‘neath your skin
Kept on the inside and no sunlight
Sometimes a shadow wins…
The things that we’ve been told by others can hurt. They can sit and fester in our subconscious and allow the darkness and the doubt and the negativity win.
What’s worse is that they become the things we tell ourselves. Then we take what we’ve been told and make it even worse.
Someone says, “You can’t do that!”
We hear, “You can’t do anything!” and that is what we keep repeating to ourselves.
Sometimes it doesn’t even have to be a word. It can be a look of doubt. That look that says, “Are you serious? You think you can do that? I’ll believe it when I see it.”
One of the things I love about Sara Bareilles is her videos are filled with real people. One is even a compilation of youtube videos submitted by fans of themselves lip syncing one of her songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlxB9zGH8GU
The people dancing in Brave are mostly, for one reason or another, those you might find on the margins of society – they are real people. At the end of the video you over hear someone who is watching ask “So did he take the wrong pill?”
But there they are bravely making absolute beautiful fools of themselves and not caring a bit. Now…I’m sure they were paid handsomely, but even if Sara Bareilles called and said she wanted me to dance like a maniac on a New York City street, it would take a lot of work for me to look as carefree and these folks do.
I have a necklace that I love to wear…about being fearless.
I love that synonyms listed are gutsy and spunky. It is like a little challenge to myself everyday when I put it on.
There are a lot of quotes out there about courage or bravery….
That it is not about the absence of fear, but about facing whatever it is we need to face in spite of the fear. It is about acknowledging the fear but choosing to act anyway because whatever it is…it’s more important than the fear.
So here I am, facing my fears.
Staring down the enemies:
self-doubt, rejection and ridicule from others, past failures, possible failure.
What are your fears? What enemies do you need to stare down?
Dancing with Derek 