Do Not Fear The Chicken Dance

Recently, I was at a friend’s wedding.  I was sitting at a table chatting with some friends when “The Chicken Dance” came on.  I immediately jumped up and started to head toward the dance floor.  One of my dear friends, we’ll call her Caroline, said to me, “Oh my God, you’re not actually going to do that?”  I said that I was.

After the dance was over, I returned to the table laughing and out of breath.  Caroline shook her head and explained to me that everyone on the dance floor had looked “absolutely ridiculous.”  She then requested an oath from me that should she ever consider playing “The Chicken Dance” at her wedding reception that I just shoot her.   I smiled, said nothing, and changed the subject. 

Two weeks later, videos of the reception were posted online for the guests to view.  They were just brief snippets of things that happened; it certainly wasn’t the whole reception on tape.  But, part of the video was the entirety of “The Chicken Dance”.  The bride and groom were both there, the entire wedding party, myself, my husband, and several other guests all flapping around on the dance floor, swinging each other about like square dancers, and laughing like mental patients on new meds.  Caroline was right.  We looked ridiculous.  I looked ridiculous.  And there is was, on the internet, for the whole world to see.  I should have been mortified.

I wasn’t.

That’s right.  There was no mortification in my soul.  There was only joy.  I watched that video more than once, each time noticing something new and laughing even harder.  I was thrilled.  I didn’t care who saw that video.  Nothing is more pleasant than joy, and nothing causes joy as much as laughter.  And nothing induces laughter quite as quickly as “The Chicken Dance”.  I may have looked quite the fool, and the whole world might have been watching it, but who cares, I was filled with joy.  Right at that moment, sharing giggles with my friends, as well as some strangers, at a wedding.  Not only was I filled with joy, but there was a record of it.  This record meant that I could relive this joy any time that I wanted.  So what if I was ridiculous?

After watching the video about a dozen times, and laughing through every one of them, I noticed something.  It was Caroline.  During the time that we were dancing, she was sitting at the little corner table with her date and a couple of other friends.  They were primarily ignoring the dancing, but when they weren’t, they weren’t laughing.  When they occasionally glanced at the scene, they appeared mildly disgusted.  It was obvious that they felt that “The Chicken Dance” was beneath them.

I have to say, they looked cool.  They looked bored.  They looked miserable.

I hope that I am never that cool.

You see, life is made up of moments.  Some of the moments are good, some are bad, some are filled with stress, and some are filled with pure joy.  The joyous moments only come around if you let them.  That means that you have to be open to “The Chicken Dance”, to hugs from friends and family, to kissing in the rain.  It means that sometimes, you have to embarrass yourself.  Sometimes, you have to cry in a movie theatre, or sing out loud in a public place.  Sometimes you have to share a moment of conversation with a stranger while waiting in line, only to realize that you two would be great friends if that person were a part of your life.  You have to smile at strangers, even if you only get a smile back ten percent of the time.  Take my word for it, that ten percent is worth it.  You have to talk in silly voices to babies.  And puppies.  And your significant other.  In public. 

If you’re “too cool” for these things, then you are missing out.  You’re missing out on the fun in life.  Even the most pious lives need some fun in them.  And in today’s world, the opportunities seem to be fewer and farther between.  Because of this, we need to take advantage of them when they arise.

We all need to laugh more.  We need to take ourselves less seriously.  Most importantly, we need to get over the embarrassment and relish the moment.  You see, nothing is quite as entertaining as laughing at yourself.  The only thing that really beats it is letting others laugh at you while you join in.  That’s what I love about “The Chicken Dance”.  We all look silly doing it.  And when we do it, we laugh at ourselves, realizing that everyone around us is laughing at us too.  And we don’t care.  While we are laughing at ourselves and being laughed at, we are laughing at others while they laugh at themselves.  It’s a sort of shared freedom.  And that freedom leads to joy.

So, I challenge you, Reader.  The next time that you are out in public, and they play “The Chicken Dance” or “The Electric Slide” or “Y.M.C.A.”, join in.  The next time that your office goes to Karaoke after work, get up and sing.  Sing loudly.  Sing badly.  Laugh at yourself, and let others join you.  You won’t regret it.  The fact of the matter is, doing a Julia Sugarbaker down a runway at a fashion show may be embarrassing, but it sure will give you a laugh when you are old and telling the story to your grandchildren.

for comments and feedback, the author may be contacted at:  unkemptruminations@comcast.net