just dance.

{I found this in my drafts about a night I had several weeks ago.}

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I've spent the past few days at some pretty cool places with some of my favorite people. And these days have just been good.

One of these places was Club 90, a come-as-you-are honky tonk bar where I feel in an odd way like I've rediscovered my homeland. One of my new dear friends, Emily Golightly {her name! I just die over it} took Liz and I up there several weeks ago because her dad is in the Karaoke band that plays there every Thursday night. We loved it so much that of course we had to go back and bring other friends to experience the magic.

Our group sat in a nervous sort of panic mixed with excitement as we listened to the other singers. I sat next to Audrey, who poured over the book and quietly hummed song after song next to me. She and I both pulled up possible songs on YouTube, cupping our hands around the phone speaker to hear better. Jess knew what she was going to sing when she got there - her go-to classic. Emily is so comfortable, she chose last minute. We all finally settled on songs after the waitress had brought a round of water bottles and fried pickles. Our personal concert would be an odd conglomeration ranging from the Dixie Chicks' "Goodbye Earl" to Journey's "Faithfully" to Meghan Trainor's "All About that Bass".

I was the first to sing in our little group of girls, after a long string of more colorful characters. We definitely stood out. In fact, one of the band members chuckled as he said, "For our next portion of karaoke, you may only sing if you are fresh-faced and innocent."

We all nailed it. I sang Marc Cohn's classic "Walking in Memphis" and had my own special moment. It wasn't great, but I can say I transported myself to that little piano bar in Tennessee. In the end, it didn't matter how well we sang anyway. At Club 90, the crowd loves you no matter what. You get off stage and you feel brave and liberated and completely high on performance adrenaline.

The rest of the night we sang and danced with the best of 'em. Audrey, Emily, and I danced like maniacs on the dance floor to karaoke versions of Journey's "Separate Ways" and AC/DC's "Highway to Hell."

Taylor Swift said that when she was making her oh so famous "Shake It Off" music video, she chose to feature all sorts of dancing because she says she thinks that the way people dance shows a lot about them. And whether someone is willing to dance like a maniac. I'm right there with you, T Swizzle.

One of my favorite feelings in the world is the freedom I feel when I sing and dance like no one's watching. Spontaneous dance parties free my mind and my personal concerts in my car when I'm clapping and singing at the top of my lungs give me courage and strength. I have to remember, whenever I feel like I am losing sight of what's important, all I need to do is DANCE.

As an extra treat, here's one of my favorite Fallon moments, with awesome Jennifer Lawrence {how can you not love it?}. There's a high possibility I've contributed 1000 of the 11.5 million views.
 

on communicating

"Communicating is always better than not communicating."

This has become one of my life creeds. With good reason, as I am reminded over and over again. Like tonight.

Sometimes, and probably more often than I'd like, I find myself in a mood where I feel like I mistake every word coming out of a person's mouth. I'm on edge like a lunatic cat, with my back arched and fur puffed out, and everything they say I assume is something I don't want to hear. Or in a different language that I completely don't understand. So I misunderstand.

Generally, it's fine -  no harm, no foul. Or even better, hilarity ensues. But sometimes it just leads to discontent and me wondering, "what did they actually mean?" and "what could I have said?"

The episode of This American Life I listened to today was all about miscommunication. While the whole episode was great as usual, I especially loved this:

"Whenever there's a miscommunication, you always have to allow for the possibility that that's not really what they meant, it's just you're running up against the limitations of language. It kind of gives you a grace that you have to kind of give someone the benefit of the doubt. And it's actually a really nice thing." - Ben Karlin

People are wonderful and confusing and individual and sometimes it's impossible to know what we all mean when we speak, especially with the limits of our own language. I think of how there are times when I can't possibly find the words for what I'm thinking or don't want to. Sometimes my thoughts are so much more full left inside. I find it hard to pray out loud at times for that exact reason. And so, if I struggle to speak my thoughts, I can give others the benefit of the doubt and recognize also that I might not be able to understand them fully because of the limitations of language.

I also watched the movie Like Crazy last night. Aside from giving me a fear of love, it reiterated my life creed. While I actually really liked the movie, the relationship was painful to watch. That is a film full of not communicating. So much of their sadness could have been prevented if they would have just SAID SOMETHING.

In the end, I am pro-communication, but not a pro communicator. But I'm trying. Here are a couple more reasons why I support communicating and why you should vote for it in the upcoming elections.

- I can't think of a time that I regretted saying what I needed to say, as long as I said it calmly and tactfully.

- I do generally regret not saying something that I want to say. I hate thinking "What I should've said was..."

- When I don't say something I need or want to say that's important to me, I want to scream.

- I like hearing what other people are thinking, and when I talk, they talk back to me.
Communicating is always better than not communicating.