Get Lost
I watched one of our high schoolers dance in his school’s Black History Month performance. As the performance began, it was clear the world around him disappeared. There was no gym filled with his classmates. There was no bright light shining down. There was no photographer or videographer or i-phone trying to get the perfect shot. The argument from the day before, the homework he forgot to do, the college application he still needed to submit, ceased to exist. His past, his future, were of no significance. All that was left was him and his music. As the dance performance continued, something spectacular happened. My world also disappeared. I too became myself and the music, and nothing else. I was lost in a forest of movement and joy with no desire to be found. The arts allow us to get lost in a moment. Whether performing a dance, playing an instrument, painting a picture, singing a song, or even simply watching a movie, the arts transport us to a world beyond our current reality. It is in this new world that I believe we can learn about a part of ourselves we typically keep dormant. It is in this new world we can explore the pieces of our identity we cover and hide. While art shines a light on our authentic identity, it also has the power to connect this true self with others. I love moments when my hidden self becomes friends with another’s hidden self. Together we sing along to a song playing on the radio. Together we watch a sky painted with color. Together we dance, following one another's lead. And art connects us with our past. While our student was lost in his moment, he was connecting to all those who came before him, also lost in moments trying to tell a story of race, life, love, and loss. Maybe this weekend we can all get lost. Maybe we can sing, or dance, or draw, or dream in a way we usually deprive ourselves of doing. Maybe we can get lost and find our true selves.