I want to share with you all an experience I had today. I LOVE dancing, I know that most love dance too (Yes, even you, dancing half naked, while home and alone) . I'm sure that we'd all agree that if dancing was a person we would marry him/her/it.

I want to briefly explain a curious moment that happened to me that explains why I love dancing so much. I'm sharing this with you in a hope to shed some light on what I think "Spirit" is. How we can make our spirits dance, and why this is easily accessible to others around us. Ultimately I do not know how you will react to this story so please feel free to share your reactions below.

I went on a early morning run this morning and came back to find one of my favorite local bands on the street. Doreen's Jazz Band takes interesting and fun twists on traditional jazz and even some modern tunes. It's her family in the band; brother on trumpet, dad on sousaphone and valve trumpet, and her daughter on the drums (She holds a mean beat with the ease of a honey badger). Next to the band is a man on a typewriter. He is "Cooking Fresh Poetry! Made to Order!" Surround this scene is a busy Royal street on an unexpectedly sunny day.

There are loads of locals and tourists stopping to enjoy a song, snapping photos, and conversations with laughter can be heard. I stopped and Doreen winked at me because she knew it would only take mere minutes before I got over my fear of the crowd and started dancing. They played some spirituals until she looked over and asked if I wanted a specific song. I asked for Viper Man.

I started dancing and looked to my left and I saw a young woman getting down with the second line moves. We partied it up in this instance of communication. She felt something in the music, in the openness of my dancing that made her want to open up and dance along, soon other audience members started clapping and dancing themselves.

"'How is this happening?'" I thought to myself amongst it all. I didn't ask them verbally, nor did I motion for these people to come and dance. It was still non verbal communication, yet it wasn't purely intentional. he only way I can explain it right now is that everyone: the band, myself, this girl on the other side of the band, and eventually the audience connected on the same plane, same level, same idea. It was a moment of bliss, and I felt as if I found long lost friends in the strangers that decided to clap and dance along in his moment that seemed so far removed from the indifference I sometimes feel from people as we pass each other on the street. This was a intimate moment, a spontaneous party full of a rush and joy that felt as fresh and new as the first flowers of spring and crisp air. People came out from behind their cameras and lived IN THE MOMENT. I believe we all connected with each other's spirit in those short five minutes.

I found out that girl who was the first from the crowd to come out and dance was two years older than I and was paying for her education as a bartender/stripper. She is also a local New Orleanian who works with an organization that is committed to fight against the commercialization of the city and it's historic neighborhoods.

The "Poetry Chef" decided to just buy a typewriter from Office Depot (Yes they sell them) specifically for the sake of writing for people on the street. He didn't ask for any money for it and he seemed to be enjoying himself. He wrote a poem about the day, and the moment I described above.

Multiple things happened simultaneously in these few minutes. The band played Viper Mad. Myself and a another woman started dancing. The crowd joined in however they wanted to. The poet looked at everything that happened and converted his thoughts and feelings about the entire day up until that moment into words on a slip of paper.

Nothing was planned, all was variable. It happened on Royal Street. Where three art forms: Music, Dance, and Poetry came together and expressed themselves apart from each other, as an interpretation of another, and impressed itself upon each other. The crowd reacted and opened up becoming a piece of a larger whole. We were all humans living together in this moment of culture. No technology to distract, or worries on which we fret. It was pure joy in life and laughter.

I ask you to NEVER doubt the power of dance. Never doubt the power of art. If you see someone singing/dancing, or expressing themselves try to not crush their spirit. Contribute your own interpretation and in that act of communication you will find yourself closer to that person in a way you have never felt before. Dance (Art) often brings completely unrelated people together in thought, body, spirit, and soul. It is a beautiful experience and must be preferred.

That's how my Sunday went.
Josh out.