Write to Empower Archives - Dancing With The Unknown

Dancing with the Unknown

Kute Blackson: “Your freedom is in direct proportion to the degree you can dance with the unknown.”

Simply dancing on our feet is wonderful exercise, while dancing with our heart is directly addressing the unknown. The unknown can be both alluring with magical possibilities, and terrifying with awful probabilities. We attempt to pierce the veil of the future so we will be prepared for what comes. Sometimes we even think we should know how to dance before we have really learned how to walk. However, when we dance with our hearts, nobody cares if we can't dance well; all that matters is that we dance. On the days when our feet and heart are synchronized we know the beauty of the day. More often than we would like, our feet stumble one way, our hearts gallop another way, and we fall down. As long as we get up again, mistakes are guides to being more human, and what looks like failure is simply a signpost to turn us in another direction.

Attempting to prepare for the unknown often causes us to worry, feel agitated, or depressed. In the deepest part of our being we know that worrying is wasted time. We also know that we can use that same energy for doing something about whatever worries us. Finding a solution doesn’t always come easily or quickly, sometimes we have to wait until inspiration or a door opens in front of us. Inspiration becomes more fluid as we practice waiting and listening for guidance.

Martha Graham: “I believe that we learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living...In each it is the performance of a dedicated precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of one's being, a satisfaction of spirit…”   

I can spend days gnawing on mistakes, or worrying over how I am perceived by others. Worry gives me one benefit; respite from dancing with the unknown. When I get knotted up in counting pennies or looking for what I don’t have, I forget that being happy magnetizes success. When I lose myself in my work, and love what I am doing, I am successful. Recently I was offered the option to write a monthly column about being a publicist for the San Francisco and Sacramento Book Reviews. This was not something I searched for, barely allowed myself to dream of doing. This vision took years to manifest because I was only “somewhat” willing to dance with the unknown. I was looking for safety, and too worried about others opinions to feel confident in sharing my own. Today I write for the pleasure of writing, and hope that my thoughts and exercises enhance your dance with unknown. 

This week’s exercise is to write about how you dance with the unknown. Do you live close to the bone with your finances? Do you have an illness that could keep you from living large but doesn’t stop you? Do you stand in front of a blank screen and still write poetry? Do you love your friends unconditionally? Instead of whining do you dance when it snows? Maybe the following quote will be a comfort and guide. Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche: “And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

Comments/Feedback? You can find me on Facebook, Twitter @selbyink, and www.selbyink.com