DANCE LIKE NOBODY IS WATCHING

When I saw the video of Robin Schrieber from a recent Golden State Warriors game dancing for the Jumbotron cam, my first thought was now THAT’S an IGNITED WOMAN!
She brings her biggest boldest moves and wiggles and shimmies with sheer joy and abandon.

And she didn’t do it for herself but instead to cheer people up after a “tough election” because she wanted to make them happy.

I just love this- I appreciate her courage to show up fully and provide some much needed levity and healing in her community at an uncertain and difficult time.

In a recent article, she admits that before she stands up, she feels she is “so ridiculously stupid” and that she ” shouldn’t do this” but once she gets up, she says “it’s like no one is watching her”.

BUT THEY CERTAINLY WERE WATCHING!

The video quickly went viral and Robin has become a bit of a sensation. But how the incident is portrayed in the media is quite interesting and telling. Look at a few of the headlines/comments I found:

“Dancing Lady in Ugly Sweater has Serious Moves”-ABC News

“This Woman Dancing at a Basketball Game will Make You Laugh, Cry and Possibly Die of Secondhand Embarrassment”- US Weekly
“epic mom dance moves”- You Tube comment
“another old pill-popper, I’m sure”- You Tube comment
“Coolest Mom Award was Won By This Dancing Mom at Warriors Game”-You Tube
Even though she’s a retired school teacher and artist, the emphasis in the media is about how she acted out of character as a mom and a midlife woman.
The media chose to take the spin about what she was wearing and focus on how her husband and son reacted to her “crazy antics” before making it about her desire to make people happy or to just show her spirit for her team and dance as she felt like dancing!
This seems to perpetuate the notion that midlife women and moms are supposed to be quiet and invisible and are discouraged and sometimes ridiculed for showing up brightly and doing what pleases them- even if it’s in the spirit of helping others.
It made me ponder…
Do I have the courage to show up and dance like nobody is watching?
Can I stand for what I believe and make a difference to others even if I’m misunderstood or even ridiculed?

I have plenty of times where I feel my boldness and do show up brightly but have to often remind myself that what others think of me doesn’t matter- especially when I’m doing what my heart knows to be right or maybe even when I do what I feel like doing in that moment because I want to.
Robin is a great example of how to show up fully and let go.
This wasn’t just a one-time deal for her- she’s been on the Jumbotron (sometimes wearing that same “ugly sweater”) more than 20 times since last year and each time she made the choice to go for it; probably with those same thoughts that she was being “ridiculously stupid” and “shouldn’t do it”

BUT SHE DID IT ANYWAY
Now that’s being an Ignited Woman.
I came across this beautiful poem She Let Go by Reverend Safire Rose that speaks so clearly about the beauty of living fully into who we are meant to be.
May it be an inspiration to blossom further into the Ignited Woman within you.

Now get out there and dance like nobody’s watching!

In Peace,

Beth

When I saw the video of Robin Schrieber from a recent Golden State Warriors game dancing for the Jumbotron cam, my first thought was now THAT’S an IGNITED WOMAN!
She brings her biggest boldest moves and wiggles and shimmies with sheer joy and abandon.

And she didn’t do it for herself but instead to cheer people up after a “tough election” because she wanted to make them happy.

I just love this- I appreciate her courage to show up fully and provide some much needed levity and healing in her community at an uncertain and difficult time.

In a recent article, she admits that before she stands up, she feels she is “so ridiculously stupid” and that she ” shouldn’t do this” but once she gets up, she says “it’s like no one is watching her”.

BUT THEY CERTAINLY WERE WATCHING!

The video quickly went viral and Robin has become a bit of a sensation. But how the incident is portrayed in the media is quite interesting and telling. Look at a few of the headlines/comments I found:

“Dancing Lady in Ugly Sweater has Serious Moves”-ABC News

“This Woman Dancing at a Basketball Game will Make You Laugh, Cry and Possibly Die of Secondhand Embarrassment”- US Weekly
“epic mom dance moves”- You Tube comment
“another old pill-popper, I’m sure”- You Tube comment
“Coolest Mom Award was Won By This Dancing Mom at Warriors Game”-You Tube
Even though she’s a retired school teacher and artist, the emphasis in the media is about how she acted out of character as a mom and a midlife woman.
The media chose to take the spin about what she was wearing and focus on how her husband and son reacted to her “crazy antics” before making it about her desire to make people happy or to just show her spirit for her team and dance as she felt like dancing!
This seems to perpetuate the notion that midlife women and moms are supposed to be quiet and invisible and are discouraged and sometimes ridiculed for showing up brightly and doing what pleases them- even if it’s in the spirit of helping others.
It made me ponder…
Do I have the courage to show up and dance like nobody is watching?
Can I stand for what I believe and make a difference to others even if I’m misunderstood or even ridiculed?

I have plenty of times where I feel my boldness and do show up brightly but have to often remind myself that what others think of me doesn’t matter- especially when I’m doing what my heart knows to be right or maybe even when I do what I feel like doing in that moment because I want to.
Robin is a great example of how to show up fully and let go.
This wasn’t just a one-time deal for her- she’s been on the Jumbotron (sometimes wearing that same “ugly sweater”) more than 20 times since last year and each time she made the choice to go for it; probably with those same thoughts that she was being “ridiculously stupid” and “shouldn’t do it”

BUT SHE DID IT ANYWAY
Now that’s being an Ignited Woman.
I came across this beautiful poem She Let Go by Reverend Safire Rose that speaks so clearly about the beauty of living fully into who we are meant to be.
May it be an inspiration to blossom further into the Ignited Woman within you.

Now get out there and dance like nobody’s watching!

In Peace,

Beth