We danced

​There is something magical about blending JOY and FREEDOM together.

If there had been an order form with mother nature Saturday evening, it would have included 80° weather, no wind, twinkling stars and a bright quarter moon.

If there had been an order form for being surrounded by 50 of your closest friends and new acquaintances— all people of excellent character, giving hearts, and a spice for life, that order would have been fulfilled.

If the musical fairy could have ordered the perfect local musician playing oldies to sing and dance along with, this was the night.

If Cupid could have pulled his bow and shot an arrow into two people who have loved each other for 26 years, and captured them on the dance floor without a care in the world, this would have been the night.

Little did this dancing couple know that someone special, celebrating her 70th level of life was taking a candid snapshot of them, twirling, spinning, laughing on a makeshift patio dance floor.

Little did the people watching know that this dancing couple had no rhythm, no dance experience, four left feet between them, but just enough courage to get out there anyway.

And THAT is where the JOY comes from.

Now, about FREEDOM.

When a person has released some things in their lives that have caused heaviness, there is a sense of FREEDOM that cannot be explained with words. There is a lightness, a flowing, and energy that happens.

It has been said that if you want to fly, you have to let go of everything that holds you down.

Unless you truly know this couple, you might not know that the last few years they have gone through some of the hardest things in their lives... and lived to tell about them.

You might not know that they have lost everything and are working to rebuild their lives one brick at a time.

You might not know that they started a new business this year and, like most small businesses, it takes a long time before it works and most days you are left feeling unsupported and questioning if you did the right thing.

You might not know that their family has been torn apart by unforeseen circumstances and that their lives look nothing like what they planned or dreamed it would look like.

You might not know that they have been on a journey in pursuit of FREEDOM in the last year.

They have been running hard after FREEDOM from sadness, grief, worry, financial stress, excess weight, excess belongings, the pressure of caring what others think about them.

The FREEDOM captured in this candid shot is of wild abandonment.

It is the essence of living life despite what’s going on outside of the dance floor.

It is the culmination of two people choosing to love each other, to not give up, to go on when there are days it would be easier to quit.

It is the unbelievable feeling of dancing in a body that has released one hundred pounds over the course of a year, and knowing the intense amount of effort and dedication that has taken.

It is the feeling of knowing you are safe and unconditionally loved by the people around you in that exact moment.

It is the blessing of non-judgement.

This moment.

This moment is what we have.

This moment is where we can find JOY and FREEDOM if we simply look for it.

In this moment...we danced.