I Missed The Lessons

October 28, 2012

For the past few weeks, my life has been filled with drama, so this realization is coming days late.  I’m a big fan of The Wendy Williams Show. In the Houston area, her show airs at 10:00AM. Several weeks ago, she had Earvin “Magic” Johnson as a guest. While the interview had serious moments, it was fun and upbeat and included a conversation about Soul Train. Both Ms. Williams and Mr. Johnson agreed that almost everyone learned how to dance by watching Soul Train.  

I think I missed the lessons.

Unimaginable, given the show’s thirty-five year run. The show’s first episode premiered four days shy of yours truly reaching eight weeks old. I love music. I have always loved music. The type of music I listen to depends on the mood I’m in that day. I like to sing, but I’m tone deaf. I can’t carry a note. Period. My girls insist if someone only created a show for people who like to sing but can’t, I’d win hands down. My singing is so cringe worthy, I’ve been banned from singing in the house.

Then, there’s dancing. As I said, I missed the Soul Train lessons, even though, as a child, I was a regular viewer of the show. I can do cartwheels. I can bend and stretch. I can dive bomb a bed with my girls…but dancing…? No. That’s not to say that I won’t dance because I do. I just don’t dance with grace and style. Of course, Karma can be unforgiving. My daddy couldn’t coordinate clapping his hands and nodding his head to the beat.  Add in his feet and it was a disaster. But he was able to laugh at himself and didn’t mind that watching him dance was, for me, an LMAO moment every time.

This entire conversation came about when we watched Psy’s Gangham Style. I told my children, I was going to do the same gyrating, galloping dance. Their promise is if I do they will record me and post it on YouTube. My saving grace is YouTube will not post any videos with copyrighted material without the express permission from the copyright holder. They can attempt to post me Gangham Style dancing but it won’t remain on the site long enough for anyone to see. J If it does? Oh, well. There’s nothing I like better than a good laugh, which is why I encourage my girls to live life to the fullest, love yourself and your fellow man, and laugh as often as possible.

In closing, my advice to you is learn from my mistakes. There’s a lesson to be learned everywhere. In all my star-struck youthfulness as I tuned into Soul Train, I missed loads of free dance lessons. Being from New Orleans, a town where a Second Line might break out in the middle of a funeral and waving a white handkerchief has nothing to do with surrender, I regret not jumping on the Soul Train.