B in Bloom

On Monday night, I went with some friends to a swing dance class. I’d danced a few times in college, but this was a whole new challenge since I haven’t tried West Coast style swing before. 

If you’re not familiar with swing dancing, West coast swing was invented for Hollywood films. Since the dancers had to be seen by the camera, the traditional style swing dance was modified so that the partners would dance back and forth within an invisible rectangle, called a “slot”. Swing dancing is a partner dance, with a lead and a follow. As a follow, you have to remain in the slot while dancing, and the lead will guide you through spins, twists, and twirls. Sometimes the lead opens up the path in the slot so you have space to spin, and occasionally they stand in your way to cue you to dance backwards. 

The new challenge I embarked upon that evening was attempting to dance in the aforementioned slot while keeping pace and getting the footwork right. I found myself constantly second-guessing my footwork, trying to count steps and the beat of the song, all while being tossed around in twirls. I was frustrated from losing my footing, feeling like I was starting off on the wrong foot and turning the wrong direction and then landing on the wrong foot all over again. The whole sequence felt wrong, and I was getting tired of making mistakes and overthinking.

“Lean into the music and trust my lead. The proper steps will follow.”

Towards the end of the night, many missteps and fumbles and a lot of laughter later, an older gentleman got tangled with me when I stepped left instead of right. I apologized, saying that I kept getting my steps mixed up, that I was new to this, and…  that I was trying my best. He smiled gently at me and said, “Oh, don’t worry about it. Lean into the music and trust my lead. The proper steps will follow. Your job is to simply dance in the slot you are given, and add your own flair. I’ll lead you by either standing in the way and turning you around, or moving out of the way and letting you do your thing. The only thing you need to do is dance in the slot, and respond to my openings.”

What a beautiful parallel that is to dancing and doing life with Jesus.

When dancing through life, my job as His beloved child is to simply move and twirl and dance within in the slot that I am given. I do not need to think about what type of spin I will take 10 steps from now, or if I will turn left or right. I don’t need to worry about whether or not He will lead me by standing in the way and redirecting my path, or if He will open the path for me to continue down the slot. I have the freedom to simply lean into the music, pleasures, lessons, and joys of life, and add my own flair. If I trust Him to lead, I can be fully present and at peace and allow myself to have fun by trusting that He will guide my path and that the proper steps will follow.

– B

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