If you’ve read my About StayWonderfull page of this blog, than you already know that the first line of Lee Ann Womack’s Grammy award-winning hit, I Hope you Dance, is a big inspiration behind the creation of this blog. At 20 years old (my age when this song was released) I Hope you Dance reinforced my positive outlook on life. The line, “I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,” made me reflect on what the word wonder really meant and the older I’ve gotten, the more gratitude I feel in my heart for being able to maintain, and even grow my sense of wonder.
But don’t let my obsession with the first lyric fool you, this song is filled with so many incredible nuggets of wisdom. I can remember putting this song on repeat and listening to it over, and over, and over again with tears streaming down my face. At the time, I didn’t fully realize why this song touched me so deeply. Over the next few years of its popularity I can remember wishing the good intentions of this song on the little ones in my life, but sadly, like most songs – it came and went.
While cleaning up my iTunes account recently, I came across it again. Listening to it after so many years, I was left with a completely different perspective that shed some light on the deep emotions this song evokes in me. Hearing line’s like “I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean. Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,” I remembered thinking that this song is everything I’ve ever wished for myself. That’s when it hit me that this is a what I would consider a soul song. What’s a soul song? It’s a song that resonates with your soul. In this particular case, I believe the lyrics represent the collected wisdom that we carry with us from lifetimes of learned lessons, which is why it resonates with so many. It’s what our souls wish for us! It’s why I felt those intense emotions every time I heard it. Why my heart would ache at the thought of such wondrous things. And I know I can’t be alone in this thinking. Who doesn’t want to metaphorically dance?
For curiosity’s sake, I looked up the meaning behind the song prior to writing this and expected to see that it was written for the song writers children, but instead I was surprised. Tia Sillers (co-writer with Mark Sanders) wrote the song while going through a painful divorce. After reflecting on the breakup she said that she realized that “things really weren’t so bad,” and that she would “get through it.” How inspirational is it to be able to pull something so hopeful from a place of so much hurt? I believe that wisdom and hope came from her higher-self, and that her soul was telling her that everything was going to be okay.
In case it’s been many years since you’ve heard this song, or perhaps maybe you’ve never heard it. I’d like to post the lyrics for you. These lyrics are universal. Read them. Digest them. Then feel them as you listen to the song (music video posted below the lyrics).
I Hope You Dance
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 set some hell bent heart leave you bitter.
When you come close to selling out reconsider.
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glace.
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance?
I hope you dance… I hope you dance.
I hope you dance… I hope you dance.
(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,
Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)
