Life Is The Dancer And You Are The Dance.

That's how I see it. But for a long time I haven't seen it this way. For a long time I believed I was the dancer and life is the dance. The difference seems subtle but it is not.

As an educator at The School Of Life I have always shared two philosophers to explain this difference. And I give my students the opportunity to ponder about it and decide for themselves which view serves them best in life.

Jean-Paul Sartre is a French philosopher and he says “man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.” As human being you have to search for and create your own identity and meaning. In my own words: you need a go-getter mentality and life is about you creating it.

Plotinus was a major Greek-speaking philosopher of the ancient world. In his philosophy there's a supreme, totally transcendent "One", beyond all categories of being and non-being, containing no division, multiplicity or distinction. In my own words: life wants to unfold through you and it's about you discovering this unfolding, surrendering to it and becoming a facilitator.

For me both views are valuable. But I did move from Sartre's "I am the dancer and life is the dance" more towards Plotinus "life is the dancer and I am the dance". Why? Let me try to explain what I mean, by using this same metaphor of dancing.

As a little girl I always loved dancing and I still do. It starts with me being willing to move and tune into the music. Without this first step nothing is happening. At this moment I'm the dancer. And once I'm tuned in that's when I get to the essence of what I love about dancing. At some point it feels like the music takes it over from me, but more accurately said, I surrender to life. I loose my sense of self and - most importantly - it's a lot of fun. There's a loss of time awareness that makes time fly by.

For me dancing really is the easiest way to experience flow state. Flow brings more than joy and vitality. Flow means home coming to me. It brings a deep sense of clarity, understanding and knowing. Although outside the dance floor it's a bit more challenging, I'm more aware than ever before that I'm a facilitator of life. I'm more aware that I love being the dance more than being the dancer.

To which idea about life do you lean more: are you the dance or the dancer? Leave me a message in the comment section below, I’d love to hear from you.

- W.