Now we dance

A friend told me this amazing story from his time volunteering in Ecuador. He was living and working in a small village and during that time he encountered a life of hardship. To him, as a wealthy American, their lifestyle was nothing short of unbearable. Food was limited, work was laborious, and the culture was highly traditional - men worked and women took care of the home and children. One thing that stuck with him was their ability to stay positive in what seemed like times of trouble. How exactly did they do this? They danced!

He remembered a town hall meeting where they had just finished discussing the dire state of affairs. He couldn't remember the exact issue, but it was related to the small school in the village. Ultimately resources were limited and the school would need to shutdown. After a long discussion about the school the village leader pulled out a small radio and said, "and, now, we dance." To my friend's delight (and confusion) the entire town got up and started to dance. They danced for hours!

This pretty much sums up my view on life. Need a quick happiness fix? Great, dance! Celebrating a life victory? Wonderful, dance! Bonding with friends? Dance! Bored? Dance!

Nothing is easier than this. Perhaps I'm oversimplifying these Ecuadorians, their troubles, feats, reasons for dancing. But I like randomness of it all. Suddenly they turned on music and found distance from their troubles. There is something so moving about that.