Learning to Dance From the Heart
Where Am I Now? I’m looking out the window and reflecting on the
wonder and the beauty of the ‘āina (land), the palm trees, and the gentle
tropical rain that bring blessings and refreshment to the soil and grass.
Where the fragrant plumeria, or frangipani, as we call them in Western
Australia, flourish. Oh, the smell is pungent. The wonder makes my
heart sing. . .
It is often that music causes my heart to sing, play, rest, and be healed. This song I am referring to gives my heart peace and strength.
I Hope You Dance, the song by Lee Ann Womack, reminds us to never “Lose our sense of wonder” and asks us to promise to “Give faith a fighting chance.”
She encourages us “to dance,” to never settle for the path of least resistance. Oh, yes, she encourages us to dance throughout the song.
Yes, life is a dance. Relationships are a dance. Probably 20 years ago, I remember reading the book The Dance of Intimacy: A Woman’s Guide to Courageous Acts of Change in Key Relationships by Harriet Lerner. It speaks about the dance that a relationship is. It is that dance that most intrigues me in life—our vertical and horizontal relationships in life.
One of the most memorable experiences I had upon entering our new life in Hawai‘i was learning to dance. The dance of hula, which I am still learning. It is the beauty of the dance of heart and soul and spirit in hula that i most love, and by which I am Inspired.
I will always remember the first hula class as we danced on the lawn to the song Shout to the Lord with these words, “Shout to the Lord all the earth let us sing, as the mountains bow down and the seas will roar.”
That song is an Australian classic from Hillsong Church and stirs my spirit every time I hear it.
As we danced on the lawn, looking up to the mountain and out to the ocean, it pulled from somewhere deep within my heart and soul. My spirit was revived and overjoyed.
After class, I drove down the road looking out at the ocean, weeping with tears of joy at the beauty of Aloha and the peace it gave my heart and soul. It revived me!
