On some of my shorter-length author profiles, it will say something like “NY Times & USA TODAY Bestselling Author. I write books. I take pictures. I sometimes dance in my kitchen.” or “I sometimes cook without burning” (That last one is another blog post, lol, but needless to say I’m probably not using my kitchen as was intended.)
So once, as I was in my bedroom closet, I was showcasing some of my sweet-ass dance moves for the husband. We’re talking a robot-Charleston-Carlton-Running Man-hybrid. You know, jealousy-making stuff. To which he smiled and said in his very cute accent, “Yep, you’re dancing like no one is watching.” (He makes me laugh all the time.)
Then later, as I was dancing around the office, I realized that the neighbors might be able to see me from outside the window, and I thought, “Well, not since Napoleon Dynamite have they seen anything so awesome.” Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time in my life the neighbors saw my dance moves. Before we moved to the South, I’m pretty sure my Midwesterner neighbors were often “delighted” by the crazy author lady. Creatives are a strange lot, to be sure.
Anyone who works in a home office knows that it’s very easy to forget to move for hours on end. It’s not like there is a time clock telling us when the work day is over. And if there is a deadline, forget about it. The day is never over. I’m in that chair for anywhere from 13-18 hours a day. It’s one of the reason I got into the habit of getting up and moving. Dancing, even “Michelle” style dancing, is a great way to get tiny bursts of exercise during the day.
So, if you’re like me with a sit-down-office-for-hours job, I challenge you to get up and dance or walk or move every hour or so. And, who knows, you might entertain a few people in the process.
