Photo by Olivia Bauso on Unsplash

You can’t do it wrong!  Wow…what a statement.

My five rythyms dance teacher regularly reminds our dance class of this.  It is so tremendously liberating.  We all have our own way, our signature, our way of moving that is different from everyone else and it’s just one of the best things I love to do, to watch someone dance when they’ve unleashed themselves, given themselves totally free reign to move exactly as they feel. It’s even better, actually no, not better, it’s equally good to unleash myself and dance like no-one’s watching.

It’s not just how we move either that can be transformed by letting ourselves off the leash and giving ourselves the freedom to do it like no-one’s watching…it’s almost everything we do.  How desperately sad though that this freedom is a rare event.

I know it’s been rare for me, as the times when I’ve let it happen really stand out.

I remember having the most wonderful job in the world for a while.  I was Youth Training Scheme Co-ordinator for a company I really enjoyed working for.  I loved that job but I didn’t know why till afterwards as I was attempting to specify what it was I loved so I could recreate it.

Here’s the thing….I couldn’t get it wrong.  The position was newly created, no-one had done it before me and I was free to decide how it would go. I also had a manager and director who trusted me with a very loose reign.  I had a ball.  We had competitions and I got the head of the company (a very famous man- I’m a bit ignorant of blog protocol around naming of names ) to present the prizes. I worked intuitively deciding what to develop in the scheme and what not….I couldn’t do it wrong.  There was nothing there before to judge me against.

Another time I remember was at a school fete and I was running the second hand book stall.  Very hard to do that wrong.  I found myself looking at who was approaching the stall and imagining what they might like to read, quickly plucking out such a book and chatting them up with a ‘You look like you might like a bit of intrigue…this detective novel has your name written all over it, or ‘You look like a smoothie and fresh fruit person, here’s some new recipes…now you can’t say no to that can you?’

Then when we had an hour to go and wanted to clear the lot, I was making up little packages of complimentary books and doing on the spot 5 for 50p deals specially packaged for the people coming towards me.

I didn’t know what had got into me…it was very good fun.  I’m normally on the introverted side and poo poo such blatant, in your face, selling. Granted, there’s a license for playfulness at a school fete but it did open my eyes to just what creativity is unleashed in me when I believe I can’t do it wrong.

I go on to wonder just what treasures of creativity lie buried in me in other circumstances where I believe I can do it wrong and so am cautious, careful, out of fear of getting it wrong rather than out of the sheer pleasure of doing what I’m doing.

I’ll be keeping my eye on that.