Situated from the ocean by a mere stone’s throw, St. Lucia was
surrounded on its other three sides by a range of small hills. It sat in a
valley, lush with good soil and pasture, enabling the villagers to maintain a
high degree of self-sufficiency.
St. Lucia was a fascinating
place, with many stores of handcrafted goods, home-made foodstuffs and a fresh
catches-of-the-day market down near the ocean. One aspect, though, made this
village more interesting than others. As
one of the most colorfully dressed women in the village, Katie caught the eyes
of most visitors. When she was observed while teaching, however, many became
quite spellbound; wearing colorful, flowing skirts, her movements around the
children conjured up visions of butterflies and birds in flight and, for some,
even such woodland folk as faeries at play.
When she was a child, Katie excelled
at every task that was put before her. She completed her classes in language
and counting, and even the everyday chores with such ease. This gave her extra time to do what she
really wanted to do: explore the nearby beaches. Katie loved the salty, vibrant
smell of the ocean and would spend most of her free time combing the beach. She
had quite a collection of shells and interesting artifacts that the tides had left
upon the shore.
One test-taking day, little Katie completed her tests quickly and thus, had
almost the whole day to explore. It happened to be a very sunny day; a perfect day for a swim, she thought,
hurrying towards the beach. Kicking off her shoes, Katie dove into the surf and
came up laughing, the waves tumbling her about. Standing still for a moment,
she let the waves slap and knock her about until she caught the ocean’s cadence.
Swimming out a bit farther, she turned into an oncoming wave and, instead of
tumbling under, Katie flew forward on top of the wave all the way into shore, where
it steadily petered out. Shaking out her hair and laughing in unabashed joy,
she walked back into the ocean for more. 
Katie looked around then, taking notice of the feel of the ocean’s
breezes on her cheeks and how the ends of her hair were lifted up and blown from
side to side, in concert with the wind. As she gazed up at the trees that stood
near the edge of this beach, she thought, the
trees are playing in the wind, too. Katie jumped up, held out her arms and
began to move, mirroring the way the tree limbs would dip down, swirl and fly up
as the wind caught the leaves from different directions. Then she burst out
laughing and twirled around and around, kicking up the sand and moving with the
waves, the birds, the trees and the wind. How
did I miss seeing this before? I feel so free!
Some kind of flying creature,
she thought; perhaps a tiny fast-moving
bird. When the sparkling light began to move closer, however, and then fluttered
as if to land upon her raised knee, Katie’s breath caught. It’s a
beautiful woodland faerie; I wondered if they were real!
Mouth
agape, watching the lightly swirling yellows blend as the faerie settled more
securely on her knee, Katie heard, as a whisper in her mind, Yes, we are real to those who see. I am here
as a guide. Come, will you take a walk with me?
Without any consideration, Katie stood up and,
though on shaky legs, began to follow the faerie on a seemingly haphazard path
through the woods that soon began to wind its way up. She had never ventured
this far up into the woods before. It’s
greener in the woods and a bit cooler, Katie thought as they climbed
higher. Just before reaching the top of a ridge, the faerie settled onto a
large rock in a clearing that overlooked a small waterfall.
Katie turned around and around;
she was enthralled. I can see everywhere;
the beach and my village down below, everyone scurrying around; and the forests
all around us. Everywhere is magnificently alive! The faerie sat quietly,
recognizing Katie’s need to take in all the wondrous views; to experience her newly
recognized innate love and respect for all living things. When sated by her wonder,
Katie turned expectantly towards the faerie and sat down upon a rock beside the
stream: I didn’t know how marvelous it
would feel, to see so far and wide.
Fluttering
towards the branch of a small bush nearer to Katie, the faerie shared her
message: I came because you called to me.
‘Dance’ is the term that forest and beach creatures use to describe their
interactions with each other. I am called ‘Dancer’ because the movements of all
other creatures call my spirit into dance. Your movements in concert with the
dance of the birds with the waves and the trees with the wind called me to you.
It is here that you will more fully be able to understand my meaning. Take a
moment; see around you.
Unable to contain her excitement, Katie jumped back up, clapping her
hands and twirling around and around. “I’m dancing!” she shouted out loud, and
her body responded with no hesitant restraint. She ran to the branches of a
nearby tree, running her hands through the wind-tossed leaves, turning around
and around. She twirled and danced on towards other trees, running her hands
through every bush, whether full-leafed or scraggly.
While twirling about in a circle, a flicker of light caught her eye and
she realized that Dancer was also flitting about, moving in sequence with her. Katie
dipped and swirled, touching leaves and branches as she went. Every movement
that she made, Dancer did also. “We are dancing together!” Katie shouted in joy.
After another whirl of dancing around the clearing, Katie dropped down
onto the nearest rock to catch her breath and watch the birds, butterflies, the
bees, rabbits and squirrels dance amongst the trees and bushes.
Dancer settled next to her. Here
is the reason that I’ve brought you here. You, too, are a dancer. Dance is in
your soul and has now been called forth into expression. You will find your way
into a Purpose as you move forward in life. From this day forth, every aspect
of life will be seen by you as a dance and, by your example, you shall teach
this to others.
Astounded at first, Katie gazed at Dancer before nodding. I know, Dancer. Everything becomes more alive
to me when I move in a dance. With that acknowledgement, Dancer began a
fluttering kind of exaggerated movement and, hovering before Katie, said: If you call me, I will come. Then, with
a final flicker of her wings, Dancer disappeared.
This is the story that Katie tells to those who are interested enough to
listen. Some dismiss her, stating that
she is merely an unimportant dance teacher. Some tend to look with disdain at
her adult classes, whispering out loud, "This
class is simply a waste of good time; there are more important things to be taught."
When Katie came down out of the forest that
day, she began to observe life with new eyes. As everyone went about their daily
pursuits, she saw their movements as dance. “We all dance,” she tells her adult
and children’s classes as she takes them on outings to observe villagers at
their work. “Plowing a field, harvesting a crop, hammering a nail, cooking a meal, washing the clothes, counting
out money and even diapering a baby are done with movement. All movement is
dance; and it can be freeing to your soul to see your movements as dance
instead of mere work. Those who can see
this will find that their work becomes more enjoyable.”
Katie is never concerned with those who
criticize or look at her with disdain. They
do not see she reminds herself; and, truthfully, her lack of concern is
because she is attuned more to her enjoyment of freedom, the kind that she
feels inside her soul. Katie still takes many walks up to the clearing, pausing
often to rest by the waterfall and marvel at the many instances of dance that occur in the
forest around her. Even those creatures
whose purpose is to allow others to eat them for sustenance are engaged in a
dance, Katie thought to herself one day, watching a wren swoop down to grab
a caterpillar. Life is – just so.
As her body aged, Katie continued to dance and teach her classes. On one
recent hike up into the woods, she sat on a favorite rock and mused: Perhaps I shall continue to dance, even
beyond the time that my body is laid down to rest forever. This thought
brought Katie back up on her feet, twirling around and bumping her hips up
against a nearby tree. “Of course I shall,” she said aloud. “Dance is in my
soul.”
