Seizing the Now

Last night I watched Scott Lazarov take the floor on the PBS special, America's Ballroom Challenge. He danced a mambo with his nationally ranked amateur partner, Christine Stanko—all lights on them, cameras rolling away at their feet, commentators somewhere up high whisking up words of deep praise. I dance with Scott most Thursdays, some Fridays—a poor student of his bolero, rumba, cha-cha—and I know the depth of his talent. But with the cameras, the lights, the crowds, it was as if I was watching him dance for the first time.

We work our whole lives to earn the one impeccable moment—the choreographed two minutes, the irretrievable line of a poem, the gesture of redeeming goodness—and after all of that we are required to find courage. The curtains part and we step forward, and it is now or never. It is our feet on the ground and our head in the skies and our hearts near to bursting with desire.

Last night, Scott and Christine seized the now.