Dancing like no one's watching

What my toddler’s dance party taught me about creativity and authentic living

I was going to write about something else today. I had a topic, started typing some words, and then paused. I looked back at those first two sentences and thought, “this isn’t it.” The words lacked a je ne sais quoi. While I don’t expect everything I write to be a masterpiece (heck, it most often won’t even come close), I do want my words to mean something; to be propelled by a force of good. Writing and reading is an exchange of energy. I give you my thoughts and you give those thoughts your time. But in order for those thoughts to carry weight, they need to stem from a place of authenticity.

So that’s my question for us today:

How do we create from our authentic self?

How do we perform from our authentic self?

After our Easter brunch, while some of us were lingering at the table and others (my son and his grandfather) were playing with the 3D printer, my toddler was having a dance party in the living room. He was somehow able to articulate his speech enough for Alexa (the echo device) to understand his request to “play music.” He felt safe and he had space to simply be. He bounced, he made himself dizzy, and he bobbed his head with enthusiasm. He wasn’t performing for anyone; he was just delighting in his own movements and expressing himself freely.

We should all move through life with a bit more of that freedom.

We should all celebrate our capabilities, without concern that they are enough; or that we are enough.

It is our responsibility to create from our authentic selves. As Martha Graham said,

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.”

In order to create or perform from a place of authenticity, we need to remove the clutter. We need to get rid of the stories we’ve told ourselves about our own worth or our ability to make an impact. We need to cut through the self-talk that holds us back and keeps us playing small.

One of the best ways I’ve found to eliminate the junk in our mind is Morning Pages. This practice comes from Julia Cameron’s book and course, The Artist’s Way, and instructs the creative (that’s you. That’s me too. We’re all creative) to write non-stop, every morning, for 3 full 8.5x11 pages of paper. We’re talking stream-of-consciousness writing. You don’t let your pen stop moving and you write with the intention of never reading it again. This is an excellent way to dump the contents from your mind that are preventing you from accessing what’s true and necessary to share. It also helps the subconscious thoughts rise to the surface.

If one of our grandest goals is fulfillment, then it’s critical to pay attention to authenticity. When we are authentic, our values align with our actions; our inner self aligns with the one we display when we engage with the world. That congruence yields fulfillment.

Let’s commit to showing up with our authentic power in what we create and how we perform. That’s a meaningful gift you can give yourself and your community.

Photo by Maksym Kaharlytskyi on Unsplash