“I Hope You Dance…”

“I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat But always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
Promise me you’ll give faith a fighting chance”

“And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance”
“I hope you dance”

Me and Lesley on The Staten Island Ferry

This weekend I visited a good girlfriend in the Empire State of Mind, New York City! I met my friend Lesley only 4 months ago on a 10 day journey through Israel. Within that 10 days I connected with her in a way I can only explain as surreal. I had to keep reminding myself throughout my visit with her this weekend that I had really only spent 10 days of my 26 year old life with her, but within those 10 days I can tell you I haven’t felt that close with another human being in a very long time. This is what I love about our ability as human beings to connect to someone on a very deep level in a very short period of time. Needless to say we had an amazing time together over the weekend and I felt like I had come home; to share the experience of life with someone I feel like I have know all my life.

This interaction between Lesley and I got me thinking that we are not alone in this journey we call life. We all come in different shapes, sizes, and varieties but when you strip it down we are all the same. We all feel joy, happiness, sadness, and anger. We all wonder whether we will find our soul mate, or whether we will find a job or a purpose that really speaks to our deepest sense of self. I think sometimes, myself included, we forget WE ARE NOT ALONE. It really connected for me (no pun intended :)), as I was walking in the subways and the city streets of New York this weekend how disconnected we have become. In a city where millions of people roam, barely anyone makes eye contact or smiles anymore. It was amazing to me how a subway filled with wall to wall people could be so disconnected from each other. We do live in the 21st century where we are blessed with the ability to connect at such rapid speed via email and phone, yet the emotional connection that is possible, as I have seen in my connection with Lesley, is definitely not as present as it used to be. My theory is we are scared, there is a fear to be ourselves, to be vulnerable, “To dance”.

Thus, my suggestion this week… let’s find the harmony between the fast paced world of connection and the type of connection that goes deeper. Let’s get back to connecting…with ourselves, with our friends, with our partners, even with the person who pours our cup of coffee at the local Starbucks every day. A wise women, (my beautiful yoga teacher), once told me that we first must take care of ourselves, come back “home” so to speak. It is from our “home” that we can connect that much better with our friends, husbands and wives, and even the stranger on the street. Take a chance, see what happens…As one of my amazing mentors Brian Johnson says Rockin’ It Baby Style! Meaning take small steps in the journey of re-connecting.

So when you have the opportunity this week to connect “I Hope You Dance”…