Have you ever been sitting quietly, minding your own business, when you see or feel a group of muscles twitching? They begin a dance to music only they can hear. A jump, a tweak, and rolling cha-cha seem to be my experiences with this phenomenon.
No, I am not going to go into all the medical studies and discoveries on why this occurs, primarily because I am not a doctor and that is not my reason for this post. But also because, while the twitch can be sometimes annoying, it is interesting to watch the rolling waves of muscle acrobatics.
And one group always appears to invite others into the action…a regular muscular dance-off held just for me!
It got me to thinking about metaphors, analogies, and similes, and how the disco movements of my muscles might give me a clue about everyday life.
I am still working on the best metaphor but here are a few thoughts:
- How I react when I hear music that gets deep into my being, and before I know it, I am tapping my hands and fingers, keeping beat with my feet, and swaying to the intricate melodies playing around me.
- How my observances and reactions to the world tend to be a dance all on their own. Raised by previous experiences and knowledge gained, stoked by the rush of modern life, and coddled by a personal bias, it becomes easier for me to see how my current set of beliefs have been fostered or disillusioned by all the voices around me and inside of me.
- How butterflies flit from flower to flower. Aerial acrobatics to a tune only nature can produce.
- How my heart beats when excited. The gripping 1812 Overture played inside me in a variety of situations and emotions.
- How car dancing and people smiling inside their cars brings smiles to those who take time to notice.
- How the twitch of a sleeping baby brings an overwhelming sense of awe.
- How the dreams of pets cause their legs, paws, and faces to jump to the music of their dreams.
- How the staccato firing of neurons can cause a spark to occur and a new thought or idea to arise, or a solution to a problem appear.
All due to a movement just barely noticed. A dance of such intricacy which could be easily missed by the single blink of the eye.
Ah…I just felt a muscle twitch.
Time to end this narrative and watch the “El baile de la vida” … the dance of life and to marvel at the diversity of life experiences and the dance twitches that occur all around me.