The dance of every day life

I was leaving Panera this morning, my glass of half-iced-tea-and-half-seltzer in hand (yes, it is strange, I know!), when someone in front of me held the door for just an instant until I could reach out at hold it myself.  A common gesture.  One we do, or experience every day.

But today, the movement and the grace of that single act caught my eye.  Un -choreographed, unplanned.  It was a pas de deux between two strangers, but in its own way, as elegant and graceful as a moment in any ballet.

That instant, I realized that there is a dance of every day life.

I started to think about other examples....the cars moving among one another on the highway.  The way a family works together in the kitchen moving around one another, as they prepare dinner or do the washing up.  We move in and out, step around, turn and reach.  There is a beauty in that interaction, that interweaving of motion that we (or at least I) have missed until now.

When you go about your day tomorrow, pay attention to the dance.  It's there.  Notice the effortless way in which we move around one another, the ways our movements connect and separate.

See the dance.

Does anyone else see the dancers?

It's happened since I was a little girl. A new piece of music would come on -- it could be classical or jazz or a completely modern composition or a traditional piece like a Navajo flute melody. Usually just instrumental, although on a few occasions, they have had lyrics. And instantly, I am off in my own world.

In my head, I see the dance that goes with the music. The dancers, the steps, the costumes, the lighting, the stage, the setting, the props. It's all there, complete. And I "watch", tranported from wherever I happen to be at the moment into an internal world where the dancers perform to the music.

I never consciously choose the moves or the lighting or anything else about the dance. I am a spectator, delighting in the dance, watching as the music is translated into movement and light.

While I "watch", I can usually continue to do whatever it is I must do...drive, cook, do chores. It's difficult to converse while I watch, so I usually try to stop that. Most people understand if I say I am listening to the music, and are willing wait to talk until it ends. They never know what I am "seeing" as I listen.

So my question is: Does anyone else see the dancers?