Rambling Thoughts on a Cloudy Day, it all started with a sign…

Today is one of those days—cloudy, with a chill lingering in the air, not just outside but within me as well. The grayness seems to seep through the windows and settle on my thoughts. My mind flits about, half cataloging the tasks that demand attention, half pondering deeper desires and elusive wants. There’s a restlessness in the stillness, an itch that can’t be scratched by simply checking things off a list.

On days like this, I find myself asking odd questions, the kind that wouldn’t surface on a sun-soaked afternoon. What if the Hokey-Pokey is what it’s all about? We’re taught early on, perhaps as a joke, that life could boil down to something as simple and playful as a dance where we put our left foot in, then out, and shake it all about. It’s silly on the surface, but maybe there’s a hidden wisdom in not taking things so seriously, in finding meaning in the small, repetitive acts of living.

Cloudy days have a way of slowing us down and amplifying our thoughts. I notice the way my coffee cools faster, the gentle hum of the heater kicking on, the quiet companionship of my own breathing. The dream barks of my mutt pack as they lay cuddled in their beds. There’s comfort in these mundane details, a reminder that not every moment needs to be groundbreaking or revelatory. Much of life is lived in the in-between, the pauses, the repetitions. Maybe that’s where the heart of it lies—a dance of ordinary motion, a ritual of coming in and out of ourselves, searching for balance, even if it’s just for a moment.

As I sit here, in the Queen chair, wrapped in my blanket and thoughts, I wonder if the secret is acceptance. Maybe the Hokey-Pokey teaches us to step forward, retreat, shake things up, and keep going. The world pulls us in different directions, responsibilities, dreams, doubts, and hopes, all swirling together like the clouds outside. Yet, in embracing the motion and the uncertainty, we might discover that the sum of these small, silly dances is what gives our days their meaning. My daddy always said, “Keep moving… You have to keep moving.” Maybe a little hokey-pokey is called for….

So today, as the sky remains gray and my mind drifts, I remind myself that it’s okay to ramble, to not have it all figured out. Life is full of lists and longing, but also of laughter and letting go. If the Hokey-Pokey is, in fact, what it’s all about, then maybe we’re already doing better than we think—finding joy, however fleeting, in the dance of simply being alive.