Tunesday : I Hope You Dance

I Hope You Dance

(Sillers, T / Sanders, M) performed by Lee Ann Womack

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances, but they're worth takin'
Lovin' might be a mistake, but it's worth makin'
Don't let some Hellbent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin' out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance (Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)

I hope you dance
I hope you dance (Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder)
I hope you dance (Where those years have gone?)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
Dance
I hope you dance

I hope you dance (Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along)
I hope you dance (Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder?)

With Kennedy's convocation happening yesterday, I can't let that happy occasion go by without acknowledging it, and for whatever sappy maternal reason, this song really gets to me; isn't this all that any of us want for our kids? To challenge themselves and be active participants in their own lives? Happily, Kennedy has always seemed to be just that kind of kid.

Kennedy was fascinated by dinosaurs when she was little, and by the time she was two, she could say, "I want to be a paleontologist when I grow up." Famously, when she said that to Dave's Aunt Suzie, she smiled and said, "That's so cute, but what is she trying to say?" (And the only reason why Aunt Suzie couldn't understand what Kennedy was saying was because Aunt Suzie had no idea what a paleontologist is.) Kennedy remained fascinated by dinosaurs, but by the time she got to high school, she realised that she was not fascinated by the science. But by then, she had a new passion: acting.

From the time she was a preteen, Kennedy was acting with various youth theatre companies, and in high school, drama became her main focus: acting in and out of school, trying her hand at writing and directing, and winning various awards for her efforts. And when it came time to apply to university, and she hemmed and hawed over whether to choose something practical or to follow her dreams, Kennedy went for the dream and started a Theatre Studies degree. After all, her dad has an acting degree and he has put it to practical use in the business world. Kennedy briefly flirted with the idea of using a theatre degree as her undergrad before law school, and while that placated my own father who thought that Kennedy was made for greater things than acting, she soon got over that idea (and that was fine with me - I don't know if the lawyer lifestyle would really be a happy one).

All through university, Kennedy acted in every  production she could (while also flexing her skills behind the scenes), and the few plays that were written up in the school paper gave her rave reviews. In the end, I don't think that she found her program to have been ideal preparation for an acting career, but while she briefly considered auditioning for the National Theatre School for further training, I think she just became tired of school and couldn't imagine three more years before her life begins. (When a local theatre company came to the school and headhunted her for a dramaturge role, Kennedy's prof noted that the experience could probably be turned into a Master's thesis. I got excited by that idea, but Kennedy did not. She was done.)

Over the past year, I know it's been frustrating for Kennedy: every family member who saw her asked what she was planning to do with her degree, and while she wanted to answer "Act", she knew that everyone was expecting something more: applying to the National Theatre School or law school or grad school; as though acting - the thing she had been studying for; her passion - wasn't what one did with a degree. With one's life.

Now that she's done school, Kennedy has been hustling for work: going on auditions, submitting headshots, meeting with casting agents. She's had a couple of paid gigs, was hired for a casual position with a murder mystery dinner theatre club, has negotiated a contract position with that theatre company that headhunted her, and has been hired part time at her favourite clothing store. This kid is going to be fine: I know that when she's given the choice, Kennedy will dance.