Release it to the Universe!

Everybody needs a release. I would say I'm a fairly positive thinking individual. I can let a lot of stuff slide off my back like water and a ducks butt. But, as with all of us, things start building up. Aging parents, their health issues, my health issues, the economy, the loss of all three of my beloved pets in a six month period, family issues, house repairs (see last blog), the BP oil spill, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that has been brought home personally by my nephew Sean being in Iraq and just the day to day bumps in the road that we are all faced with.

As a young child, my mother, the professional seamstress, tried to teach me to sew. Yeah, that didn't work. Have you ever sewn your finger to the material? My mother tried to teach me crafts. I had more glue and glitter on me than the Christmas cards I was trying to make. Plus the cards kept sticking to my fingers and were pretty well torn and shredded by the time I got through.

I even remember one time where she showed me how to fry marbles, drop them in cold water so they would crackle and glue them onto tiles to make matchbox holders. I kept burning my fingers on the hot marbles. I tried to sell them door to door but if I remember correctly the profit went to ointment and band-aids.

My mother could look at a dress in Vogue, create the pattern and have it sewn all in one day. That's another gene I didn't get. I think I lean very heavy to the Messina side of the chromosome chart.

I made a hooked rug once. Well, I made half of a hooked rug once. Paint by numbers? I think I once got to the number 5, that was about half way through and I got bored. Holly's Mom taught me to crochet. I never got beyond crocheting a long rope. Have I mentioned my ADD?

So, crafts, sewing and hobbies of that caliber have just never been my thing. I envy people who can create with their minds and with their hands but have learned to accept that will never be my cup of tea. I just handed over a huge bag of material to a very talented friend. It had been sitting in my office waiting to be sewn into doo-rags for my friends with cancer. She is going to make neck coolers out of them and send them to the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But, thank God, I do have a release. It's dance, plain and simple. I forced myself to get ready today, not really in the mood. I drove to the Highliner, parked the car and wandered in kind of in a blue funk wishing I could have stayed home and watched "It's Complicated" for the second time. I love Nancy Myers films. The woman gets me.

But I walked in and immediately was hugged and greeted by so many friends. And some I haven't seen in a very long time. By the way, Barbara, I meant what I said. You look fabulous and it was wonderful to see you! People grabbed my hand and squeezed it, patted my back, put their arms around my shoulders. The immediate feeling of being where I belonged and feeling liked and loved raised up my spirits in a matter of minutes.

Then the music started. I know zydeco isn't for everybody. I know that some people just don't get it. I cannot tell you how excited I was to learn that because of the time and place my grandparents settled into New Orleans, I am considered Creole Italian. I didn't even know there was such a thing but I am so proud of that silly little part of my ancestery I could just about bust my buttons (which I do frequently just because of my bosom!).


OK, back to the music (did I mention my ADD?). It started and one of my favorite partners asked me to dance, then another and another and another until it was my time to help at the entrance. This music, this dance raises my endorphins and once again, though all may not be right with my world, it makes it ok. It makes me a stronger person to face the lumps and the bumps of the coming week.

I hope you have your releases, whether it's gardening, art, reading, playing an instrument, bicycling, sports, motorcycles, whatever. I am amazed and impressed by what my friends put on Facebook every day as they share their daily activities with the world. Just something so that you can get out and get the stink off ya!