Do What You Want To Do

 

If you haven’t listened to this David Gray video, you might listen first (and then just stay on his channel and listen all day).

I think I have epiphanies in concerts.

And even if I don’t usually, David Gray will certainly instigate one.

I sat there Saturday night, listening to one of my favorite artists of all time (hearing him live for the FIRST time), and I felt the music in every ounce of my body.  I wanted to get up and dance.  David Gray concerts don’t lend themselves to everyone standing up and dancing.

So I sat there, sitting, thinking, why don’t you do what you want to do?  You’re with your best friend – SHE won’t care.  And you don’t know ANYONE else here.  Why are you sitting?

That’s when I noticed them.  Two friends, I guess.  They were seated near the front.  Or their seats were near the front.  One woman had on a long flowing dress and she was completely bald.  And she and her friend were dancing up and down the aisle.  Wildly and with great abandon.

I’m not certain the woman was undergoing chemotherapy, but I would guess that was the likely cause.  I wondered as they danced, did she just decide life is TOO short to sit there wanting to dance but stay seated?  To sit there worrying about what people will think?  I bet cancer has a way of putting all that in perspective.  And if you get to go to an awesome concert, and you feel the music and you want to dance, then you just get up and dance because life is too short.

You do what you want to do.

So I leaned over to my friend and said, I’ve got to dance.  And with a great appreciation for the stage full of musicians, and this crazy six part harmony, and the pounding drumbeat, I stood up and danced in the aisle.  The darling girl in front of me, clearly on an early date, looked back and smiled and saw her window of opportunity to stand up and dance too (serious props to her cute boy for standing up next to her so she wasn’t alone – he didn’t move, but he sure stood there next to her on an aisle full of sitters).

Why are we so worried?  Why have we lost all our spontaneity in adulthood?

The sermon at my church this morning was actually on spontaneous compassion.  The pastor likened it to spontaneous combustion where we our faith so heats us from within that we just burst into compassionate activity everywhere we go.  Bam! Pow! Boom!

But why wouldn’t this apply in even more areas that compassion?  Why can’t we feel the music and be so moved inside that we just burst into dancing or song or whatever without being obsessed over how we’ll be perceived.

When did we silence our instincts?

And I’m not talking about stupid stuff that we matured out of!  I’m talking about the joy and the fun and the wild abandon that we’ve lost in adulthood.  Kissing my husband in front of people like he was flying into outer space to save the planet.  Singing at the top of my lungs.  Laughing so loud with littles that I snort.

Dancing in a crowd of sitters.

Would you try something today?  Or this week?  Whenever you really feel deep joy or compassion or humor or emotion.  Do what you want to do.  Don’t let our overwhelming desire to be cool or people please or stay out of the limelight let us miss out on the fun and the spontaneity.