Dancing With Reckless Abandon

Two weeks ago the Traveling Jack show left the comfortable confines of the home office in paradise for a quick trip across country. A lovely experience in which your favorite father's plane departed California at 10:30 P.M. and arrived at Dulles at 6:30 A.M.

Twelve hours later the crazy man boarded a plane back home. Stuffed full of coffee, a bagel and 17 gallons of Pho he spent the entire plane ride wondering if the crazy clevelander behind him would do him a favor and swallow her tongue.

Ok, in the interest of disclosure I don't know where that woman was from nor did I pray for her to swallow her tongue. Rather I silently begged G-d to sew her mouth shut or make her move to a different seat. I blame that upon extreme fatigue and the foul smell of caviar that was emanating from her bag. Who brings caviar on a plane and more importantly, who eats it while sitting in coach. Really.

But none of that is important nor tied into the real point of this post. Because what this is about is dancing with reckless abandon. Yep, it is about standing up and shaking your ass without any regard for rhythm or rhyme. It is about being completely unaware of just how awful you look.

It is standing in a room with no one but your children and you and finding out that three of you are moving your bodies to the music. You don't know how or why it started but you don't care. Don't care because your daughter is laughing so hard you wonder how she hasn't wet her pants. Don't care because her big brother is a part of this moment too.

This crazy and special moment that has spontaneously appeared. You are smart enough not to run get a camera because you don't know how long it will last and you fear missing it. You don't stop to blog or tweet about it because again it is unclear whether it will be 30 seconds or 30 minutes.

For a moment time stands still and you who are exceptionally self conscious about dancing move because you don't care. The kids haven't a clue and more importantly they are having way too much fun. You do all you can to enjoy the moment for no other reason than just because. You smile because you know that this is something that you will all remember. You laugh because it is contagious and you can never laugh too hard or too long.

For that moment in time all is perfect in the world and there is no doubt that you will all pass through the coming storms. And again you are reminded that a life is made up of these moments in time. Pieces of a puzzle that you continue to build and shape as you go.

And so you dance with your children and wonder if their laughter isn't the same sort of sound that the angels in heaven might make.