The Healing Power of Music

A couple of weeks ago I ran into the general store just down the road from my house. I was standing in line, wearing my mask and slightly bopping around to the music on the radio.

As I was checking out I noticed that the cashier had a tear rolling down her cheek. I asked her if she was alright. Needless to say, she wasn’t. We chatted for a bit and she admitted that being isolated was starting to have an affect on her mental health. She confessed that she wished she could just dance her stress away.

So, as Madonna’s “Vogue” came on the radio, I stepped aside, maintaining my 6 foot distance and started voguing, (is that a word? It is now.) The cashier laughed but after a little convincing, she decided to join me. And there we were, two thirty somethings (or at least I think she was thirty something,) dancing in the middle of a general store and not caring who was watching!

A few days ago I had to run back to the store to pick up a few supplies we were running low on and the same cashier checked me out. She told me how grateful she was that I had come through her line and convinced her to dance with me. She praised me on my confidence and I admitted that I don’t think it’s confidence as much as it is just not caring what other people think. I have learned that people are going to judge me no matter what I do, and if they’re going to watch me, I might as well give them a reason to watch.

I have chatted with many women who have said they wish they could just take the dance floor like my friend Amanda and I do, regardless of whether anyone is dancing or not, and my response is always the same: “You don’t have to wish, you can get up and start dancing, no matter where you are.”

This cashier and I got down to “You Got It (The Right Stuff)” by New Kids on the Block, and when I say we got down, I mean we were doing the same choreography as the boys in the music video. A much sloppier, not as talented version of choreography, but the same nonetheless.

I told her I’m looking forward to my next visit, and I promised to look for her from now on as long as she promised to keep dancing! I wonder what song we’ll dance to next…

I encourage all of you to dance like no one is watching, even if everyone is! Life is too short to not have fun or be silly!

The first gif I ever made! My emoji gettin’ down!

Love & life lessons,

Kristian