On the route I often take to work in the mornings there is a lady who stands and waits for the bus. The road is a busy, narrow, four lane with a hectic intersection where I always get stopped at the traffic light. Just to the right of where I wait on the light is a bus stop. The bus stops in the right lane between 8 and 8:15 every morning. There is a grassy strip of land next to a Walgreens parking lot where people stand waiting for the bus. It is not level, but hilly and uneven. It is a very unlikely place to see a dancing lady.

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You’re only dancing on this earth for a short while.

— Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) (b. 1948) British singer-songwriter and musician
from his song “Oh Very Young”

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Several months ago I began seeing a lady pulling a rolling suitcase down the hill and walking on the edge of the road toward the bus stop. There are no sidewalks and she had no choice but to walk on the edge of the traffic lane. I admit, it was annoying since traffic had to swerve into the other lane (where I drove) to avoid her. However, I soon began to enjoy seeing her. She was always smiling and it wasn’t her fault there was no other place for her to walk. I imagined that she lived nearby and had to catch the bus in order to go to work.

Several weeks ago, I noticed a lady on the corner dancing in that strip of grass at the bus stop. As I looked closer, I realized it was the same woman. Her suitcase was set aside next to the street sign. She was standing tall with her head held high. And, she was dancing vigorously and joyfully. It looked like a structured routine with her arms moving in angular motions. Her facial expressions were concentrated and determined. It appeared that she felt it was her appointed duty to dance at that place and time. After that first day, she had a multi-colored scarf that she waved around as she twirled and moved her arms. I began looking forward to seeing her every day.

Last week, there was a day that I really wanted to see her. I had been listening to the news of the Israel-Hamas war on NPR. The news was horrific and disheartening. I eagerly got to that corner, but she was not there. Perhaps I was few minutes late and the bus had already stopped to pick her up. I was sad because I really needed to see her that day.

I continued around the corner and down the mountain. When I reached an area called Five Points South, I saw a guy with a guitar. I realized it was Wednesday, and every Wednesday several people gather at this intersection and hold up signs: WAR NOT. BLACK LIVES MATTER. LOVE NOT WAR. 

Today, there was something I had never seen . . . someone serenading them. How wonderful I thought. This made my day. People care. People do what they can to promote peace and harmony. This is a small example . . . but still, desire for peace and love exists. Music (and all the arts . . . such as dance) is one of the common denominators we have as humanity to express what it is to live and be human . . . it also expresses what we have to live for.

It reminded me of this quote by Martha Graham.

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. 

It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. 

Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.