You’ve got to sing like you don’t need the money,

Love like you’ll never get hurt.

You’ve got to dance like nobody’s watchin’.

Come from the Heart by Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh

This tidbit started out as a point of interest, but is now more central to our journey together: the above quote, which includes the well-known “dance like nobody’s watchin’” is misattributed … a lot. Mark Twain, William Watson Purkey, and Satchel Paige are among the persons to whom this quote is misattributed.

According to Wikipedia, in 2004, in response to an inquiry by a group of librarians, Richard Leigh stated:

For some reason, people have a great deal of trouble attributing this lyric to its creators: Susanna Clark and Richard Leigh. The reason you cannot find any printed or recorded support for these assertions dating back any earlier than our song, is because they don’t exist.... I think the folks out there must be unconsciously disappointed that something that cool came from such ordinary people, so they keep giving it the loftier authorship they believe it deserves.

Here’s why I think this merits mention here: it is within each of us to contribute in our own way. We do not need to be Mark Twain, or a 4.5-rated pickleball player, to positively contribute.

Our contribution can be as simple as welcoming a new person into the sport. Or sharing words of comfort with a fellow player who is in the doldrums.

Whatever you do, keep doing it. Who knows – maybe the words you share will be the next “dance like nobody’s watchin’.”

Dancing into your flow

In Chunk 1, we established that flow is a thing – a real thing that exists all around us, including in the sport we play. We also explored the flow that resides inside you.

We now move into the action. Specifically, we are going to tap into the outside lines of your flow. Think of this as the broad brush strokes. We’re jumping right into it.

And we are going to do this side-door style: by dancing. Literally – dancing.

Your Work

Your Week 2 work is:

There are a couple of ways you can go about this – you can do both if you like:

1. You have the song in your “Tap Into Your Flow” Community channel. You can play the song from there and dance to it. Here you have two more sub-choices:
• You can dance it the way you want to dance it. This is perfectly fine. You have your own way of hearing and processing music and your own approach to converting the sounds you hear into movement. Think of it as a sort of interpretive dance. Your journey = your dance.
• You can learn about the waltz and how it is danced. Do not worry about the fancy moves – we are talking the waltz box step here. Though relatively simple, the box step is a complete waltz dance movement pattern. You can search the term “waltz box step” on YouTube and pick an instructor you like.
2. You are welcome to follow along with me in the accompanying video lesson – you will find the video lesson in this same channel. I am not a professional dancer but am comfortable that I can navigate the waltz box step for our purposes here. And, if you so choose, it would be my honor to dance with you.

No matter which you elect, the objective is not to become a master of the waltz. We are not entering a ballroom dance competition. The objective is simply to tap into your flow; to crack open the door holding your flow in. If you already dance, then you add this particular flow rhythm to your repertoire – I know I am. If “waltz dancer extraordinaire” is already part of your story, then you are a step ahead of me and the rest of us ☺.

Have fun with this. Pickleball is supposed to be fun. Your growth in the sport – and in life – should also be fun.

As we move forward, take a moment to share in the Community space dedicated to this adventure – “Tap Into Your Flow.”

Let us know how it's going. Are you ready to go to a castle and waltz the night away?

I can’t wait to see how many new dancers come out of this experience together.

Next week we fill in your flow. Think “time for smaller brush strokes.”

See you in the community.