Chaos on the Dance Floor!
I am standing in the middle of the packed floor in Buxton Hall.
My lace dress deliciously hugs my curves as I feel the vibrations from the floor travelling through my red heels, I am in the embrace of one of my favourite dancers. The room is filled with excitement as the Melbourne Tango Orchestra plays energetic classics, enlivening dancers to move with gusto and vitality.
As I dance with my eyes closed in our embrace, I could feel the room respond to the music. My partner skilfully navigates the increasingly chaotic floor as I step backwards. A couple bumps into us as they cross our path, the man pauses and apologises. We recentre and I feel a sharp elbow on my back as another couple avoids a collision with another.
It's official. Chaos on the dance floor!
My body tightens and my breath quickens. I feel my partner's frustrations rising. We have two options - to engage with the chaos or to return to our path.
We take a collective breath as we make the choice of enjoying our dance. We feel our hearts and bodies open. We take a step together, returning to our path. We take another step, this time I pivot. We gently re-centre ourselves as we move together. We create our space.
As the music ends, we unfurl ourselves from our embrace and look at each other. Through our eyes, we feel each other's joy, relief and gratitude, feeling more connected than 12 minutes earlier.
How often do we find ourselves lost amongst the chaos? Whether it be on social media, debates around medical treatments, mega shopping malls or even amongst the deluge of TV ads. Chaos can serve a purpose - to shake things up and inspire us to look at things differently. However, when it sucks our energy and creates an unhelpful divide, it can have an unhealthy affect on our mental health, emotional health and relationships.
One way we can healthily respond to chaos is to remind ourselves of what our path and intention is. How do we want to live and enjoy ourselves in the moment? Throughout our day, from sitting in a meeting to receiving multiple social media feeds, we can ask a simple question - "does this align with my path?" And if it aligns, beautiful! If it doesn't, know that...
We always have a choice.
