Here’s to all of the people who can’t sing or dance. I am right there with you guys. Even after playing an instrument for six years I can’t match pitch and am tone deaf. Now, if you’re like me, you have accepted that this is your life. It started off as a shy and guilty pleasure. I started off dancing to ABBA. I am a dancing queen with no rhythm. My dad and I would jump around the living room, usually shaking our butts a little too much, and we would laugh like there was no tomorrow.
Most of us don’t know we can’t sing or dance until a little later in life. For me, seventh grade was a rough year — the year I decided to make a YouTube cover and go to a school dance. Both seemed like a good idea at first until 1. I listened to the video, 2. read the few comments the video had gotten and 3. actually danced at the dance. (Who really does that anyways?) That year I learned I was lacking some skills in the talent category, and the next few years I shoved those things I once loved to the back of my mind. It took me well into high school to get back to doing those things I loved, and when I got back to it I learned a few things that people who can’t sing or dance learn.
Here’s to the tone deaf rays of sunshine. We may not be able to carry a tune but we can use this happy accident to brighten anyone’s day. We have learned the art of singing or dancing horribly to make anyone smile, and the best thing is, if you don’t know them very well they think you’re just joking.
Here’s to everyone who has mastered the art of singing in the car. If you turn the volume up just loud enough you sound like Beyoncé and no one can tell if it’s really you or the radio — the way to make any car ride a blast. You also tend to know every song by heart to try and mask the fact that you can’t match pitch to save your life. Without you, we would still be wondering if T-Swizzle had a long list of “Starbucks lovers” or “ex-lovers.” Your memory knows no limits when it comes to lyrics — calculus is another subject though.
Here’s to those of you who keep those “old school” dance moves alive. We may not know how to do the new, hip Chris Brown moves, but meet us on the dance floor with your best sprinkler or lawn mower and we will take the cake all day, any day. There is a lot of commitment involved in pulling out the running man at a party and you know that you can accept the responsibility.
Above all, here’s to the people who grew from this. I know when I learned how challenged I was I couldn’t even make myself sing in front of my family. Karaoke with friends was torture, and anytime a friend would want to learn the latest new dance trend I would happily volunteer to record everyone. If you haven’t yet found your confidence, you will — I promise. When you finally sing your lungs out or dance your heart out in front of a crowd, you will wonder why you ever felt embarrassed before.
You are the start of a domino effect in confidence, and this one is for you!
