Reframing The Mundane: Every Day I’m Shufflin”

Something that many people–probably fortunately–don’t know about me is that I’m a very musical person. I hum or sing to myself constantly. I sing in the car. I hum in the shower. I “la la la” as I maneuver my car into a parking space. I sing ridiculous songs to my dog.

And I dance.

I love to dance. Seriously.

I’m not just talking about the Chicken Dance, either.

Chicken dancing with Dawn, July 2005

Though I am the first person on the dance floor at any reception when I hear the first notes of the Chicken Dance or any of the following:

~ The Electric Slide
~ YMCA
~ The Cha Cha Slide
~ Hava Nagila
~ The Cupid Shuffle
~ The Macarena

I don’t need a crowd and a special occasion to move to the beat. Much like humming and singing to myself, I will dance just about anywhere. Catchy tune in the grocery store? I’m moving. One of my favorite songs comes on the radio while I’m driving? I’m moving. Of course, those two examples don’t involve too much movement: I mainly shimmy under my coat while in public, and head bobbing is typical for drive-dancing. At home where I’m doing household tasks–especially in the kitchen–is when I can give the full commitment and move my…well, pretty much everything.

Though the perfect Moonwalk still eludes me after all these years, it’s not for lack of trying. I might celebrate putting a casserole in the oven with a full-on Charleston, and sometimes I transport food items back to the refrigerator with a Grand jeté. Jazz hands make any mundane task fun, and of course there’s the shufflin’. EVERY DAY I’m shufflin’. (There is video evidence, in fact, of my “abilities”. My sister recorded me one day when I clearly had ants in my pants. It’s not pretty, but it’s on Youtube.)

Dancing, to me, is so joyful. If you know me and how much I have going on at any given moment, you can surely understand how much I enjoy the release: I need it, actually. Moving my body around, even if my teenaged sons are standing in the dining room shaking their heads and telling me what a total goofball I am (and, I might add, refusing to join in), is FUN. What better way to get through the stuff of day-to-day living than to inject a little fun?

Are you with me? Good. Now MOVE!

*cue peppy music of your choice*

I am BEYOND thrilled–doing the Happy Dance, actually–to be partnering with Hallmark on their “Life Is A Special Occasion” campaign for 2012. I am being compensated to write about every day moments of all sizes, family traditions, the relationships I cherish the most, and much more. All words, opinions, and photos are mine. Thanks so much to the folks at Hallmark for selecting me for this campaign: it’s an honor for me to be a part of it.

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