((By Sharon Lippincott))
Dance like nobody’s watching,
Write like nobody will read.These words darted into my monkey mind as I gazed at Christmas lights, thinking back to high school days when folk dancing was a favorite activity. A motley mixture of adults and teenagers gathered each week at the Rec Hall for a medley of line and couples’ dances from many nations. College kids home forChristmas made holiday dances especially festive.
There were never any lessons – you just picked the dances up as you went, with occasional pointers from old-timers. Any athletic ability in our family went to my sister and brother. I was one of those kids always picked last for whatever team was forming in P.E., so, although I loved the music and the dancing, I was never a picture of grace. On some level I knew this, but put it out of mind. I was having fun. At least until the night Kelly gave me some startling advice.
“Quit trying to make like a ballerina,” she said with a sneer. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look?”
Ouch! Where’s the nearest hole? I fled to the ladies’ room to do battle with my Inner Critic.
Kelly was a couple of years older than I and home on break from college. She had studied ballet practically all her life, and she was good enough to turn pro. Undoubtedly watching my awkward attempts was painful for her, and tact had never been her strong suit. Perhaps she meant well, but her words stung.Fortunately she disappeared back to school, and I soon got over the humiliation and enjoyed dancing as much as ever, perhaps more.
I didn’t discount her message. After thinking it through, I did begin to relax into the music more, and seemed to move a bit more fluidly. If I was still a little awkward, so what? It didn’t seem to bother anyone but Kelly. We were there for the joy of dancing, not to put on a performance, and in general we were an accepting group.
Today as I recalled that horrific moment, I made the obvious connection to writing. There was a time when my writing was almost as awkward as my dancing. I have drafts of two short stories I wrote in 1978. They are utterly dreadful! I keep them as benchmarks for measuring progress. When I went to college I fell away from folk dancing, so I’ve had little opportunity to refine those skills. But I have continued writing for over thirty years now, and with lots of feedback, study and practice, I’ve made progress.
Today I often dance at home alone. I dance because I love to dance. I dance like nobody is watching, which is easy, because they aren’t. I write the same way. I write thousands of words nobody will ever see for every hundred I share. Maybe if I took up folk dancing again, I’d do better at it for all the private practice.
My advice for you: Forget the Kelly’s in life. Dance like nobody’s watching and write like nobody will read. If a Kelly wanders in, look for what you can learn and forget the rest.
(by Mark Nichol)
You already know many adverbs that start with a-, a prefix that can mean, among other things, “on” (aboard) “in a state” (asleep), or “in a manner” (aloud). Here’s a roster of some of the lesser-known words in this class, many of which inspire vivid imagery, evoke an archaic or rustic tone, or conjure an amusing tableau, perhaps all at once:
1. Aback (“surprised”; usually employed in the phrase “taken aback” in a passively constructed sentence): “She was taken aback by his vehemence.”
2. Abaft (“at or toward the stern”): “They found the drunken sailor abaft, sleeping in a lifeboat.”
3. Abed (“in bed”): “He found his friend abed, felled by a high fever.”
4. Ablaze (“on fire”): “As they had feared, the shed was ablaze, the flames lighting the night sky.”
5. Afar (“at a distance”): “From afar, they descried the outline of a magnificent castle.”
6. Afield (“on the field,” “away from home,” or “lost”): “The absentminded fellow, engrossed in a scholarly volume, soon found himself far afield.”
7. Afire (see ablaze)
8. Aflutter (“agitated,” or “flapping”): “The ladies were all aflutter at
hearing the stranger’s vivid imprecations.”9. Afoot (“on foot,” or “under way”): “The conspirators, he noticed as he watched them sneak away from the house, were already afoot.”
10. Afresh (“again”): “Invigorated by the contents of the flask, we strode off afresh.”
11. Agape (“gaping,” or “exhibiting wonder”): “We stood staring at the spectacle, mouths agape.”
12. Aghast (“shocked”): “She stood aghast, rendered speechless by the destruction we had wrought.”
13. Agog (“eager”): “We kids were of course agog with excitement, for it was Christmas morning.”
14. Apace (“quickly,” or “keeping up with”): “The children kept apace with the marching band.”
15. Aright (“correctly,” or “in proper orientation”): “We set the fallen statue aright.”
16. Askance (“sideways,” and, by association, “with suspicion”): “Doubtful of the newcomer’s motives, she looked askance at him.”
17. Askew (“out of line,” or “disheveled”; the root word is skew, “oblique, slanted”): “His coat hung askew on his shoulders.”
18. Aslant (“at a slant,” “oblique”): “The sun’s rays struck the wall aslant.”
19. Aslope (“sloping,” or “slanting”): “The poorly erected tent tottered aslope under the tree.”
20. Astir (“active,” or “out of bed”): “She found the children, excited about the day’s celebration, already astir in their room.”
21. Astride (“with legs apart or on each side”): “He stood with his legs astride the struggling figure.”
22. Asunder (“apart,” or “in parts”): “The parchment had been rent asunder, and they painstakingly pieced it back together.”
23. Athwart (“obliquely across,” or “erroneously” or “unexpectedly”): “The rifle lay athwart the seat of the rowboat.”
24. Atilt (“tilted,” or, from tilt as a synonym for joust, “armed with a lance”): “The clumsily mounted knight charged, atilt in more than one sense.”
25. Awry (“turned” or “twisted,” or “other than correct or expected”): “To their dismay, they found that their plot had gone awry.”
Everyone is welcome to share their written pieces!
Open Mics occur roughly every month, so if you can’t make this one, no worries, there will be plenty more! :)
We’ll be selling candy canes for 25 cents each to help support LPHS’s Anti-Bullying and Suicide Prevention club, as well!
Hope to see you all there!
