Dance... Like No One is Watching

I'll never forget one time when I was dancing like no one was watching... and got caught. Someone WAS watching. Yikes! 

My friend Suzanne and I are 19 or 20 and dancing in some club in West Port. This was back in the day before Power and Light District! I know we were underage, because once we were legal, we did NOT go to that bar anymore. I can't remember the name for sure, I'm thinking maybe it was called "Stanford's"? I know it was a bar with a comedy club upstairs. So, anyway... we were dancing and having a blast. As the night wore on (as I consumed more adult beverages) both my dancing ability and inhibitions lowered significantly. The Problem? My confidence level increased and I THOUGHT my dancing ability had increased! Yep, it was one of those nights. It starts out when you are yelling "I LOVE this song!" or "This is MY song!" to every song the DJ plays. Then, the ugly dude who looks like Screech, but dresses like Slater, (remember, "Saved by the Bell") buys me a drink and I think "Wow, I'm pretty awesome. It must be because I'm sooo cute and flirty and FUN!" Then Suzanne drags me to the bathroom and immediately says "Julie! That dude is UGLY! Did you forget the code names we use for ugly dudes?! Your Bambi and I'm Bimbo! Geez! Now that pubescent zit faced guy is gonna stalk us all night!" I then respond, "What? He had a zit? I thought he was cute." Then I look in the mirror... Hair all matted, sweaty, stuck to my face and neck. Mascara clumps looking like black boogers in my eyes. Eyeliner smeared, looks like I have 2 black eyes. Face all oily and in serious need of oil blotting paper and/or my cover girl powder compact. 

Thank goodness I had my hot pink lipstick in my pocket! I reapply the lipstick, rub my lips together and make "kiss lips" at myself in the mirror. What an improvement! (beer goggles must work when looking at ones self as well?) I say to Suzanne "Okay, like I'm totally not trying to be conceded or brag or anything, and I would never say this to anyone else, but because your my best friend and you totally get me... I feel like I can tell you... I think I TOTALLY look HOT tonight! Then I hear the toilet flush (shit, someone else was in the bathroom with us). This gal walks out of the stall, looks me up and down, laughs... and leaves the bathroom. Reality check? No. I'm too far gone for reality. I look at Suzi and say "Gross. She didn't wash her hands!"

As for the title of my blog post? Yeah, I'm getting there. Just give me time. I think I must take after my Dad. He is the KING of making a short story long, just ask my mom! I love you Dad... I'm just sayin...

So anyway, we head back out towards the dance floor. Screech has bought us another round and Suzanne heads into the next room (in search of an acceptable dance partner I guess, as if screech in his black, size XS tank top and rail thin noodle arms wasn't hot enough to dance with the both of us!) and the DJ plays "I want to F*** you like an animal" by Nine Inch Nails. Of course this (and every other song played that evening) is my "Favorite song ever" so I set down my drink and step on the dance floor. I'm dancing by myself. Screech must still be sober enough to know he can't dance? I don't care at this point... 

I'm dancing. Feeling the beat. The pounding of the music in my ears. The speakers are so loud I can feel the music in my chest, in my lungs. I close my eyes and just concentrate on the music. The feel of it. The sound beating against my eardrums. With my eyes closed, and the music so loud, I am not aware of my surroundings. I'm moving my body to the music. Dancing with the beat. I'm just feeling it and moving with it and...

Then Suzanne grabs my arm. "Julie, you look like a f***ing idiot! What the hell are you doing?" I'm like "Huh? I'm dancing." She says "open your eyeballs, and quit moving like that! You do NOT look cute, OR sexy, dancing that way!" 

3 minutes later Suzanne is driving us home. I say "So, my dancing.... that bad huh?" Suzanne says "Julie, I'm not sure what got into you. I just stopped you because you're my friend... and... well... people were starting to stare." I say "Shit." She says "Yeah, you looked like a Weeble Wobble on an acid trip." 

Looking back on that night makes me laugh. I cannot even imagine what I looked like out on that dance floor. Thankfully we didn't have cell phones with video recorders back then! That thought makes me cringe. Yikes!

But Seriously?... To tell you the truth... There is nothing else like dancing that way. Dancing like no one is watching...

NOTE: Part 2 of this blog will be posted tomorrow. It's after midnight and I'm too tired to type the rest of my thoughts on "Dancing like No One is Watching" (yeah, and you KNOW I'm gonna be tying this into working out, motivation, and weight loss) 

Thanks for reading my blog. Love you all. Seriously!

-Julie Brush