Swan Lake

Tchaikovsky’s music in “Swan Lake” ballet is about outside anxiety and pain hiding an inner light.  The swan outer appearance is really inside a beautiful princess under the spell of evil, jealousy and hate.  The music, the young man who dances with her, is about love, light trying to release all the inner beauty to overcome the darkness.  What a metaphor for our life.  Sometimes a darkness of culture, persons, systems put our inner light under a spell of darkness and the best of ourselves cannot be released until we are accepted, and loved in spite of outward appearances.  The addict knows this when they enter recovery and the 12 steps of fellowship.  Sometimes a religious community or a religion, before it is institutionalized, can do this.  Finding someone who loves us as we are can do this.  Next time you see Swan Lake, and I hope there is a next time, think about this.  How loving and accepting are you?  Do you try to swan dance your inner light each day?  Why does dancing make so many people feel better?