the kindred project: day 5 (a simple, everyday choice)
The Kindred Project: 12 Days of Light and Yes is about sharing our stories of light and hope. The moments where we said "yes" to choosing beauty in the midst of it all. The moments where we stood in our own light. The moments where we saw someone else choose hope. The moments where another became our teacher and where we taught ourselves. Read more about the project and share your own stories in this post. During these 12 days, I am sharing a few of the lights along my path that have pushed me and taught me and held me in the midsts of it all.
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as i have read your comments and emails, i am noticing that there might be a thought out there that the choices i am talking about - choosing joy, hope, love - must be big choices. that somehow one must look only at the darkness to find these stories of choosing hope. i invite you to realize that the choice to find beauty or joy is one you do make every day when you put on your favorite socks or choose an orange at the grocery store or tell people you love them.
life is hard. life is full of so much, well, much.ness. we are pushed and pulled in this life. yet, we make simple choices every day to bring in more hope and joy.
one simple way i bring in more joy to my everyday life is through music.
so often i stop everything to find my rhythm, to dance, to move in this world to the soundtrack of my life. honestly, this is such a part of me that i don't even realize i am doing it. singing and dancing simply make me happy. in fact, i find when i am singing, my heart feels lighter. is that a cliche of sorts? perhaps. but it is also part of my truth.
i sing to ellie all the time. i make up words to songs i know from my childhood. all the songs are about her and her bravery and strength and silliness. i so look forward to the day she joins in. and we dance. oh how we dance in this little house. don't you think we could solve more of the world's problems if there was more dancing?
a simple truth: almost every day i make the choice to find beauty in my world when i turn up the music and find my rhythm and sing along.
in this moment, i invite you to come along with ellie and me. get up right where you are and make the choice to find joy as you dance and sing along to a favorite song, "graceland," by paul simon.
please consider sharing a favorite song or two or three in the comments. maybe a song that brings a light.ness into your world or one you love to dance to or one that is giving you hope these days.
the kindred project in yes.
Reader Comments (8)
i bought your book a few weeks ago but only started reading it last week. and i am loving it :)
"Ordinary Day" by Great Big Sea. I love this song with all my being, I respond to it in my soul every time I hear it. "Ordinary Day" has been with me through many different phases of my life, and every time I listen to it, the song somehow manages to respond to my 'state of mind' - wherever I am in my life, however I'm feeling at the moment. It makes me dance, it makes me sing, it makes me happy.
love this song, makes me want to dance around or watch my little boy dance around to it full of smiles...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFaenf1T-Y
sorry - it is "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Beauty In The World...Macy Gray
it makes me feel good everytime...i love to dance with my boys to it too...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qX7ZsxD3Ik
hi liz, thank you for this post. you are So right! we make joyful choices everyday in the simple & ordinary. i've been "focused" on what is lacking in my life & getting caught up in the sorrows rather than seeing that the pineapple i recently bought made me happy because i love the way it looks & tastes. thank you for the reminder. i sure did need it. blessings for a joyful night!
Danced to the Black-Eyed Peas (! not my usual music!) while doing the dishes the other night. So. much. fun!
I'm still on the journey to telling my story but with the help of kind souls like Liz, I have learned to find Joy in the Darkness. Here's a bit of me... http://sashaclem.wordpress.com/2011/06/01/170/.
Thank you Liz for being the lighthouse keeper for us all!