What makes you want to happy dance?

When I was 5, my Mom's favorite party trick was having all her friends over and playing a song that made me shake my but with joy. They would all sing and cheer me on as I danced around the living room. One time, the song came on in a movie theatre, and I proceeded to run to the front of the screen and do my thing for the crowd. It was so easy then, not a care in the world, just music, belly laughs, and sparkly dresses handmade by my Abuelita.

Now it takes a little liquid courage for me to get up in front of everyone and shake it. My husband, who has seen all my happy dance moves, can typically predict what kinds of things will trigger a certain move. There is a little wiggle I do when good food is on the way and a more elaborate one I pull out when on the weekend after a long work week. It got me thinking how grateful I am that I feel so much joy in my life from what most might consider being mundane things. I can appreciate the beauty of an extra cheesy pizza or a fall candle, even the smell that a match stick gives off as I strike it against the box. A few episodes of your favorite show queued up to binge as you slide into your softest PJ's fresh out of the dryer. I'm either singing or dancing at this point. Maybe a combination of both. A Full-on broadway music for my husband to catch a glimpse of as he casually looks up from his laptop.

I remember watching Gray's Anatomy years ago and loving the bond between Meredith and Christina. After an extra awful day, they would turn up the music loud and begin a 30-second dance party to shake it all off. I really connected with what they were doing and the power of releasing all that built-up negative energy we tend to bring home after a terrible day at work, or bad news in our personal lives, like when Addison showed up to Seattle Grace, out of the blue and stole Derek back from Meredith.

I hope whoever is reading this finds enough joy in their lives to dance, or sing, or laugh about something each day. There is nothing too small to celebrate. Cancer patients know this because it's when the big stuff is all bad that we hold on to the little things. May you have as many 30-second dance parties as you need in life.