Hip Hop will make ya thump thump

Imagine walking down a large hall. There is only one other person walking the other way and yet, somehow, you manage to gravitate toward each other. You know what is coming, so you try to adjust speed and hope that you’ll be able to get by only to find that the other person has adjusted speed and closed the gap too. You nearly run each other over. You crack a smile; she says sorry. Then you try to get around each other but keep getting in each other’s way until finally the magnetism releases and you manage to break free.

That’s how I feel sometimes when I am at a wedding reception or a party having a good time chatting and joking—when the hip hop music starts playing. I feel like I am constantly having that awkward dance in the huge hall with everyone watching. Unless I do something completely boring like shuffle my feet from side to side.

But let’s face it: I like to be the star of the show, and nobody watches the guy that stands against the wall in the hallway shifting his feet occasionally whilst reading a book.

So this morning, I decided to participate in a hip hop dance class each morning before school. No, it’s not taught by a professional and the enrollment is two: my wife and myself. But the first day of class was awesome!

Carrie (my wife) and I got up earlier than usual and we pulled up the music video for Wall to Wall by Chris Brown on Youtube. Ambitious much? Yes. But you will be happy to know that I only learned eight counts of the dance. It took me nearly 45 minutes to learn that much and I had legitimate breakdowns brought on by self-doubt. (Thank goodness for my wife who was teacher and motivator.)

I learned about my breakdowns,that dancing does something good for your ability to be silly publicly and be okay with it, that dancing each morning is going to be really fun exercise, that thinking too much destroys dancing ability, that Wall to Wall has totally funny lyrics, that Chris Brown is a god with a golden grill, and that I'm getting old (my joints ache that early in the morning).

Feel better about yourself? Good. So do I. I mean, I still might look like a three legged dog trying to hurdle, but at least now I know where my feet go.