Life is so short…

[celestialinter0]

We all, at one time or another, have pretended to be a rock star, singing and dancing along to our favorite song. Most of us have done this in the privacy of our own room when we were kids and as adults, in the privacy of our homes. Me? I love to do that when I drive! I turn on the radio, find a song that I can sing along too and pretty soon my arms are in the air and I am moving along to the rhythm. Most of the time, I do this on my way to work.

Yes, that is true. I will be in my nice work clothes, jamming while driving or stopped at a traffic light. I get weird looks from some people and others laugh. Personally, I love to get lost in the rhythm of a song which leads me to share with you the importance of being silly! 

The definition for the word silly, according to the dictionary is: stupid, foolish and nonsensical. I know many people do not want to look foolish. So they walk around all serious, which in all honesty, is foolish! 

No one is perfect, I repeat: no one is perfect. I don't care how educated, how thin, how beautiful, how simple, how frugal, how rich, and so on… No one is perfect! So why pretend to be something you are not? 

Life is so short… You never know when this beautiful journey will be over, so why waste a single second on being so full of rigidity? Here is a quote by Souza, that I think says it all and is a great recipe for life:
    “Dance as though no one is watching you,
    Love as though you have never been hurt before,
    Sing as though no one can hear you,
    Live as though heaven is on earth.“

When we were kids, we had no idea of what limitations were and we had no care in the world so we could do things without worrying about how we appeared to others. However, as we grew up, we lost that childlike innocence.

So don't lose the child that still lives within you. The next time you feel down, go turn on your favorite song, and sing and dance along like there is no tomorrow. Or watch something that makes you laugh. Laughter is the best medicine to whatever ails you and nothing is better than laughing so hard that your tummy hurts. Trust me, you will feel a whole lot better, and who doesn't want to feel good? 

[arctoph_49]

In a nutshell, I would say that normal is overrated.

[not_for_sale2025]

I think there is a big difference between the norm and what is normal. The internet and social media have had a major impact on attitudes and opinions around the world. We have become very judgmental, especially regarding political, sexual, religious and racial issues. But unfortunately, many of the protagonists who fueled the divisiveness were social media trolls, bullies and activists. They instilled fear and hatred to fuel their agendas.

I am sometimes stunned by (what appears to be) the social norm where many people make judgements of others without consideration or understanding. And more people are demanding a pound of flesh. It's like we've contracted a social infection of which there is no current treatment.  I hardly think society in general is normal at the moment. I agree with the OP.  It is nice to have respite once in a while when we can connect with the child in us who experienced a normality that was simple and more natural.

[cam-2793]

Social norms change. Just started reading "This is not normal" (from booktopia)  which discusses how what is considered "normal" is highly dependent on what people see in their social/ political environment. Really fascinating how quickly concepts of normal can change.

[springyzone]

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@cam-2793 wrote:

Social norms change. Just started reading "This is not normal" (from booktopia)  which discusses how what is considered "normal" is highly dependent on what people see in their social/ political environment. Really fascinating how quickly concepts of normal can change.

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Absolutely.

I have a little mind game I occasionally play with myself. I'll be wandering along somewhere and I'll say to myself...

Now if my grandparents could come back right here, right now, what would surprise them to see, what has changed?

Now, I have a grandfather who died in WW2, 2 others who died relatively young( by today's standards) in the 1960s and one who died late 1980s. I'm usually thinking of the 1960 set.

As I look around eg a shoipping centre, I think, 'You would get a shock at all the women in pants, Gran. Not a dress in sight, let alone a hat and gloves.'

And dollars and cent pricing.

That's only scratching the surface, of course. The really big changes are in society's attitudes. I think that's even bigger than the internet. Driven by the internet, sure.

Somtimes I think back in the past, people had blinkers, they just couldn't see any social injustices or things we might consider wrong these days. It can be unfair to judge them on today's values.

I'm pretty sure in 50-100 years, people will look back and wonder at some of our present day attitudes. I wonder what we are blind to?

[cam-2793]

A few years ago I was working for a survey company and we were doing a survey where we needed to got old people as well ( usually cutoff was 65) and we had to ask highest level of schooling completed. Some of the young-uns at the company were shocked when people said they finished school at 9 or 14.

I had to explain to them that there was a war on and all of the work keeping society ticking ( farming/ manufacturing ) needed to be done by women and children.

My Grandfather had to leave school at 11 - his dad was off fighting so his Mum tended the farm and he drove cattle, even though farmers were exempt from conscription many still signed up.

The twenty-somethings could not get their heads around it.

I reckon the grandkids of gen y will be flabbergasted by "fast fashion" and how environmentally and socially destructive it is and how so many young people these days try to blame boomers for everything. Without any acknowledgement of how much social progress boomers fought hard for. assuming they're all racist and homophobic when it was boomers that got homosexuality decriminalised and non-whites the vote!

[papermoon.lady]

Yes, springy, being transported to the future (or the past) would definitely mean bewilderment for most of us, like in an episode of the Twilight Zone...

Personally, I am not normal 😂 and I would like to live in the past, in particular the time of the great composers of classical music, although sadly life was not easy for women back then, and their freedom was certainly restricted by norms.  😞

Yes, we have more freedoms these days, but we don't always use them. Many people refuse to think for themselves, often fall for hate propaganda, Internet hoaxes etc., or also just buy what they are told to buy or what others have bought (most popular products). I never understood, even as a child, how people can feel inclined to buy a certain product only because it is advertised on TV with a little jingle in the background. I have already said how much this irritates me in an earlier post. 😫

Once I was on holiday in South America and when I told someone that I am irritated by commercials, this person asked "How do you know what to buy without commercials?" 🤔🙄😆

Of course there are some norms we have to follow. If I go to a classical music concert, I am not going to dance in the concert hall during the performance of course (I do this at home though). 😊🕺🙃

[papermoon.lady]

https://blog.gratefulness.me/be-yourself-quotes/

[countessalmirena]

The effect of other people’s behaviour or opinions can be stultifying.

The tendency to view one’s perceptions today as “enlightened” is incredibly insidious… and it has an undoubted effect on individuals feeling marginalised and isolated if they don’t conform. The opposite is also true, in that the sense of being different to the mainstream can be insidious. Where to draw one’s own line is not as simple as it may appear… and it is far too easy to class other people as being the problem. It usually isn’t.

… but getting back to dancing when people are looking… and other expressions of joy and happiness in the moment… I’ve sung in lifts. I’ve sung almost full-bore in the car at red traffic lights. I’ve drifted off into bliss when I have a really superb cup of coffee or a sublime ice cream. I’ve suddenly whipped out a notebook and started writing when a poetic inspiration hits. If the moment calls for it, YES. I’ll dance. Like you, papermoon, not during a concert admittedly…

My scientific logical side and my playful creative side are different but (I think) corresponding elements. 

[springyzone]

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@papermoon.lady wrote:

Of course there are some norms we have to follow. If I go to a classical music concert, I am not going to dance in the concert hall during the performance of course (I do this at home though). 😊🕺🙃

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It's interesting you mention this. Just a few weeks ago, I was reading some internet question that a random American woman put up.

Apparently it is a thing in USA for people (even those who have paid for seats) to stand up and dance on the spot at concerts.

Okay, probably not at classical music concerts, but at the current popular performances.

So this young woman was at a concert over in Europe & got up to do the same and people behind her asked if she could please sit down so they could see. That's when she noticed no one in the seated section was up dancing. So she sat, but she wrote that a little bit later she got carried away by the music and stood and danced for the rest of the night. For over 2 hours.

She wrote that surely she had every right to enjoy the concert as she paid for her ticket and if she had been in USA she could guarantee everyone else would have been doing the same, so why shouldn't she.

She was asking for advice as to who was in the wrong and it was interesting. The Americans basically jumped in and said yes, she had every right, it was only normal to get up and dance at concerts.

Everyone from the region near the European country she named though mentioned that if she wanted to dance, she should have bought tickets in the standing section & she was very inconsiderate & no wonder the people behind her were muttering.

I tend to go along with the latter. Strongly. The sense of entitlement of this woman surprised me & also the lack of understanding that she needed to adjust to different norms.

[papermoon.lady]

I think I once saw a video on YouTube where people were allowed to dance at a concert in Vienna, springy, Strauss of course! I will see if I can find it later.

For now I found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irGLsjT1oH8

Not the best singing and not the best dancing (and it does not matter!), but... it proves that there really is a child in all of us. The Viennese like to have fun too!