I am so so excited to announce what is below-the newest micro-movement! And it is only fitting that our Operations Manager Extraordinaire, Ina Lukas, write the below post as this has long been a dream of hers! Let’s help her make the dream a reality!
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A couple years ago I was grocery shopping with my husband on a Friday night. We were in a huge grocery store and there were people everywhere. When I looked around I noticed something very unsettling.
Everyone I looked at seemed beaten down somehow, their eyes cast down, barely looking up enough to see the food on the shelves. They looked pained to be facing the daunting task of buying food. In that moment I turned to my husband and said, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if all of the sudden this became a music video?!”.
Fast forward two minutes.
We were standing in the “World Food” aisle. The boring music that was playing cut out and went silent. Out of nowhere, the music cranked up and Feist’s song, “One, two, three, four, tell me that you love me more…” came on and I could not possibly hold back.
I started dancing.
I started twirling out from the cart to grab rice noodles off of the shelf, and then twirled back in to throw it in the cart. I lip synced. I grabbed my husband’s hand and twirled into him. I danced with a jar of salsa as my microphone. I was completely lost in my bliss. I became my own music video. Within moments, the people around me transformed. Their eyes lit up. They started smiling. They started swaying their hips. They started grabbing food off of the shelf with a little more zest. Some even sang along, too.
I couldn’t believe it! It was like the store started to come to life. It was a moment of witnessing the ordinary becoming extraordinary. It was a realization that one person immersed in their joy can transform the outlook of total strangers, no matter how mundane the task is that they are engaged in.
It’s easy to think that you can’t change the world while shopping for groceries, but what if you could?
What if you embraced your joy and brought it into your ho-hum tasks, like buying groceries, and in the process you had an effect on someone that shifted their outlook. That made them smile. That created a
magical experience for them. That brought them out of the problems they were facing, if even for one minute.
That’s exactly what we’re asking you to do for The Levity Project’s newest Micro-Movement:
To go dance in your local grocery store.
That’s right. Dance as you are shopping for food, video tape it and send it to us. We will compile all of your videos from around the world to create one very fun Global Grocery Store Dancing video.
A micro-movement is an idea we came up with and it means that you in your offline life, go out, by yourself or with a couple others and create change. And someone two towns over is doing it, some people across the country, and others in different places around the world. The “social movement” comes together online when you send us your video clip of you creating your own personal change.
This one may push you out of your comfort zone, but that’s what it’s all about. When you allow yourself to go to new places of fun, you inspire others permission to do the same.
As with all events with The Levity Project, you are not trying to change anyone else or convince them to join you. This is your own personal act of awesomeness. And as you will see, by simply being your joyful self, you create a ripple effect of positivity,
Send your videos to us!
Please upload your video clips, unedited, to this link by September 30th via the email address Ina(at) the levity project (dot) com.
We can’t wait to see what you send! Happy grocery dancing!
Ina
PS Photo Credit to our friends, Mary and Keith in Santa Fe with a very cool Travel Blog!
