“I have spent my days stringing and unstringing my instrument while the song I came to sing remains unsung.”

– Rabindranath Tagore

What are we waiting for?

How many times will we string and unstring our instruments?  How many times will we tune them and never reach the sort of perfect tone we think is necessary to play our song?  While we are filling our days with dreams of the future, the present is passing us by.

What are we waiting for?

I’ve heard it said that often we fear our own success far more than we fear our failure.  Are we self-critical and afraid to act because we feel doomed to fail, or is it because we fear the changes that singing our song might bring.  By hesitating, we convince ourselves that we have control of our lives.  Why are we afraid to take the same control by acting rather than holding ourselves back?

Yesterday I attended the wedding of a young couple.  They are very much in love and have been for several years now.  During the time that they became a couple, the young woman was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Their courtship and their developing relationship took place at a time that included chemotherapy and radiation and recoveries.  She wore a beautiful wig to the altar, one that approximated the hair she will soon have when her inch-long fuzz returns to its full splendor.  I suppose that many of us might have second-guessed planning a wedding in the midst of such times, but these two made the decision to live right now.  And they danced.  Oh, how they danced!  Their day of marriage was such a celebration that the dance floor was full from beginning to end.

Isn’t it interesting how one person who stops tuning and starts dancing can encourage a whole roomful of people to do the same?  I am not much of a dancer myself.  I’ve never been very good at learning the steps and coordinating my arms and legs to produce something that approximates any dance with a name.  I dance around the house when I’m working or cooking and enjoy moving to the music as it plays; but when I’m in a crowd, I like to sit on the sidelines and enjoy watching others.  Well, yesterday’s joy was so contagious that I found it impossible to sit and watch.  Soon I was in the midst of all the dancers, adding my own dance of joy and not worrying about whether anyone might be watching with a critical eye.

What are we waiting for?  Let’s stop putting conditions on the tuning of our instruments.  Let’s stop using our need for sameness to silence our songs.  Let’s kick up our heels and dance the dance the burns inside us.  What are we waiting for?