How Quakerly! part 2

Last night ... the Intergenerational Dance (sponsored by the high schoolers and Adult Young Friends). I got dragged to it by my younger daughter, dances of that ilk are not generally my cup of tea. But I really took great joy in watching the dancers, particularly the younger ones for whom that is a natural environment. Let me describe the finery I saw: everything from prom dresses to negligees over jeans, leather kilts, Barbie boxer shorts, and one incredibly delectable party dress that had been skillfully created from newspaper, shopping bags and duct tape. It was beautiful! And although I feel awkward doing free form dancing like that (I'm more of a waltz & polka person) I had a great time and stayed out too late.

This happened to me several times at the dance, and was a bit disconcerting: A person would come up to where I was standing and ask me to dance. I would decline, usually saying that I am enjoying myself just watching, and they would persist -- I suspect thinking that I was just shy. Then I would say, "I really don't like to dance," and they would STILL persist. One person said, "No one will be watching!" as if it was vanity that was keeping me a wallflower. Although I know that all of these people were well-intentioned, I wanted to say, "No means no! What part of 'no' don't you understand?"

An AHA moment: I have been attending Quaker Meeting for about 17 years. I was drawn to it in part because so many of the principles of Quakerism are in line with lessons I learned as a child in a very progressive household. And while I have embraced Meeting and made it my spiritual home, there are parts of it in which I have always felt "other" (if that makes sense.) Today I had a mini revelation that, although my mother in particular was fervently against war, her background (socialism and organized labor throughout the thirties and forties) had been in movements of armed resistance, which is a very different thing from choosing a path of nonviolence. I'll have to mull this over some more ...

Still having fun. This evening I will be going to a session with a woman (who is in my Money workshop) who now lives and works providing health care in Viet Nam. I'm excited.