Every once in a while, I run into a video that captures an important element of my journey and I want to share it. In NVC circles, I've heard this called a "remembering" of the intention, the heart behind nonviolent communication. So, when I saw this video, I was moved and wanted to post it here because it ties in with my recent experience/blog entry "Dancing Jackals Away". The video met my needs for fun, celebration, community, shared experience and meaning. Posting this blog meets my needs for contributing to other people's freedom from jackals***.
Please watch this video and comment.
Here are a few things that I noticed: Matt seems to enjoy dancing. Matt is doing his own dance, regardless of where he is located. Matt seems aware of the people around him, and seems to enjoy their company; but he keeps on dancing to his own rhythm. Every now and then, he modifies his dance to match that of other dancers. I'm guessing that the variety of the locations for his dance is part of his celebration of beauty and diversity in the world. People around him seem to enjoy joining him in his dance. I wonder: Are they feeling joy because they are wanting to celebrate life and a world community? Or, are they feeling happy and just like dancing? After watching this video for the second time, I decided to try Matt's dance style in my room, in front of the mirror. It was fun -- I laughed. It was a connecting experience for me.
Are you moved to dance? Are you feeling joy and wanting to join the party? If you are not moved to dance, what are you telling yourself that is keeping you from dancing? Are your "jackals***" keeping you from dancing? If you are not able to dance, please ask yourself why; keep knocking on doors until one of them opens. Maybe, seek out people who seem to enjoy dancing and ask them how or why they do it. This is a party and everyone's invited. Will you accept the invitation?
*** "Jackals" are critical/judgmental thoughts that we have of ourselves and others. Also called "inner critic", "critical parent", "the comittee", and other less than complimentary evaluations.
2 comments:
James -- This was pure delight! At first I thought Matt was just joking around or spoofing; yet after the 4th country, I got into his rhythm and saw that he was simply being just Matt. Always laughing, always connecting with anyone or anything around him ... just jumping and jiving to his own drummer. By the mid-point, I was astonished that most of the people who joined him, picked up his rhythm and shared in his energy. As if he was a pied piper and all wanted to follow him as he spread his ineffable magic. What was beautiful for me was when he adapted his movements to fit the arm gestures of the asian dacing girls and moved into a slow and more geometric pattern of movement. It was there I saw so clearly that to connect with others, we often have to adapt our style, move at their pace, shift our rhythm. We show respect and cooperation and that blends into a marvelous unity. There, too, in that one spot, Matt was adaptive but still very much his own person. This was inspiring spontaneity if I've ever seen it! I hope he'll come to Orange County one day! But if he doesn't, I'm still going to dance, and jump, and smile as if I, too, am a light in the world. Thanks for sharing this with us. Your Giraffe friend, Victoria E.
Joie de vivre – this is what came to my mind as I watched this video. It brought a smile to my face and joy to my heart. Matt had this joy and spread it everywhere he went, as he expressed his own unique style of movement and being. If dancing is a type communication (which I think it is, and perhaps even the most holistic type?), Matt’s video beautifully depicts our capacity to connect with each other by communicating our inner being and joy. In some situations this connection happens through following a uniform formula or style (as with Matt matching the movements of the Asian women), and other times it just happens and takes on a life of its own in which we each express ourselves in our own unique style of being and communicating….and both ways can be wonderful. I love the scene when Matt actually stops dancing for a moment and just takes in the joy of the children as they leap around him. Thanks for sharing a bit of the joy of living with us, James.
Post a Comment