In the movie “We Bought A Zoo,” Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) takes a huge risk in buying a zoo for his home. He took a giant step out of his comfort zone, and so I figured I would follow suit. Mine was on a much smaller scale, I asked a girl to come two stepping. Well I asked my friend’s girlfriend to find me a dancing partner, but hey, I ended up with a real nice girl to dance with: Hannah.
It sounds like something small, but dancing lives a country mile outside of my comfort zone. As we were waiting for just the right song to come on, my heart pounded. Other than the country music playing, nothing was familiar to me. Most people expertly swung their partners around the wooden floors, completely at ease. Their complete confidence only made me feel more unsure of myself. All that was running through my head was Lee Brice’s “I don’t Dance.” I thought back to my first inspiration for coming, Benjamin Mee, and his tagline quote of the movie: “You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”
(It sounds even better coming from Matt Damon”)
I took my twenty seconds of courage when I grabbed Hannah’s hand and said “Alright let’s give this a shot.” Thankfully, she was an experienced dancer and happily showed me how to two-step. I was, well, bad. I struggled to remember all three steps of two stepping. Maybe it was my lack of rhythm or the constant distraction of my partner’s smile, but as George Strait’s familiar twangy voice was filling my eardrum, I couldn’t help but have a good time. Just like Lee Brice, I was out there spinning her round and round… or at least trying to.
“You wanna take a break?” Just the words I wanted to hear had finally come out of Hannah’s mouth. I happily walked off the dance floor and took a much needed break. People watching while talking to Hannah became my favorite part. I could casually listen to some of my favorite country songs, and watch people slide across the dance floor in perfect unison. Giant belt buckles, bright shirts, and unique dance moves lead me to realize that I was deep in the heart of Texas.
As George Strait’s “Check Yes or No” began to play Hannah looked at me and smiled. Before I knew it, I was dancing and singing along to one of my favorite country songs. This was the first time I had felt at all in rhythm, and although I didn’t know too many steps, I was on cloud nine.
While my second left foot slowly began to act like a right foot, I enjoyed myself more and more. Guided by Rodger Creager, Luke Brian, Eric Church, Randy Travis, and of course George Strait I stopped focusing on the steps and more on the experience.
I have a huge thank you to say to Dusty, for giving such an open assignment that I could take a step out of my comfort zone, and Megan and Townley for convincing Hannah to come dance with me. But most of all, Hannah for teaching me how to two step. I am very blessed to have the people around me that I do, even if I am not blessed with the gift of dancing.
I loved reading this post! The little boy I nanny always sings along to “I Don’t Dance” and tells me it’s his favorite song, so it holds a special place in my heart. I think it’s awesome that you took a step out of your comfort zone and ended up having so much fun dancing around to your favorite songs with such a fun dance partner! I love that you “stopped focusing on the steps and more on the experience”, because that’s what the whole night was really about I’m sure. Hopefully you have plenty more experiences like this in the future!
Great post, it was very enjoyable. I definitely understand what you went through. I too, am a horrible dancer but unlike you, I have not found the courage to go two-stepping but it is definitely something I want to do sometime soon. I also need to find someone who knows how to two-step so they can teach me, because I undoubtedly cannot teach myself, dancing is not my thing. Anyway, it was nice to read about your great experience and hopelly I’ll find the courage to do it myself.
I really enjoyed reading your post! I absolutely loved the movie “We Bought A Zoo” and that quote is probably my favorite part of the movie and something I try to remember. I thought it was cool that you included it in your post and seeing someone else quote that movie! I also can’t dance so I completely related to you in that sense, and I tend to avoid going two stepping. But maybe I’ll have to find someone who’s really good at two stepping to show me how it’s done and listen to Benjamin Mee’s encouraging words and have 20 seconds of insane courage because maybe I’ll end up learning to dance and having a great time!