A New Perspective

A New Perspective

After a serious illness caused me to miss months of my Latin Cardio dance class, I returned in January. The weekly class is seventy-five minutes of line dance, salsa, and just enough stretching to keep my old lady muscles limber. While exercise boosts my physical health, socialization feeds my emotional well-being. A win-win for sure.

My first day back was met with warm greetings and well wishes from my fellow dancers, and a hug from the dance instructor who reminded me to “listen to your body, Linda, and take breaks.” I planned to take it slowly, but I was thrilled to be back.

  I took my usual spot in the front row with a clear view of our instructor and the large ballroom with round tables and chairs beyond our dance space. We students are older—over sixty—about twenty women and two awkward, seemingly out-of-place, men. The music started and we slowly eased into dance with stretches. As the beat picked up, my body moved to Latin rhythms. Oh, how good this felt.

After a few songs, however, my stamina was waning and I needed a break, so I sat in a cushioned chair at one of the round tables. This was the first time I’ve looked at my class from the view of a spectator. Dancers displayed various energies and skills—some moved smoothly, while others performed steps that were jerky and stiff; some counted steps while they focused on the instructor; others seemed to be in their own private salsa world. But they all looked beautiful. I experienced a new perspective of my classmates–seniors who were vibrant, animated, enjoying themselves, and acting anything but old. From this new vantage point, it was like seeing them for the first time.

I’ve been thinking about this lesson on gaining a new perspective. Just by changing our view, we can see things in a whole new way, whether a major life issue such as relationships, careers, health, or pleasant insights into music or art. Perhaps this is also something we can apply to our writing. I suspect that we may gain valuable insights into revision by looking at what we’ve written with a new perspective, engaging our work as a reader, seeing it with fresh eyes. Who knows what we might discover!