Have you ever had a good feeling about a person or place before you've even met them or been there?
That's exactly how I felt during my flight to Seville. I had a strong feeling that something amazing would happen. Bemused, I stared out of the airplane window trying to discern why I felt this way. I gave up after a moment, reclined my seat, and gazed at the golden sunrise that sprawled across the morning sky, imagining that it was Seville's way of personally saying buenos dias.
My instinct was confirmed on our second evening in Seville. All thanks to Joaquin, the kindest old soul I've ever met. Joaquin is a restaurant owner that I happened to bump into on my way to the Museo de Baile Flamenco. He noticed that my friend and I looked lost, so he pointed us in the right direction.
After watching the show, we strolled by his restaurant to see if he was still there. He asked us if we were impressed by the show and if we were enjoying his city, to which I automatically replied a range of synonyms for 'Yes, it was amazing'. Pleased by our response, he proceeded to tell me that he has lived in Seville his whole life, and that he always will. He pointed to a few buildings around us while explaining how the mixture of Moorish and Christian architecture came to be. I was still feeling jittery after the Flamenco show. Sensing it, he said something along these lines before we parted ways:
In Seville, I learned to never underestimate the power of music and dance, and the sense of community it brings to spectators, no matter where they are from.
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| The performance was electrifying! It was so powerful and graceful. I was almost moved to tears. |
Sometimes in life, it is hard for us to 'feel'. We get so caught up in our daily lives that we hardly stop and ask ourselves how we feel. We just go. But with flamenco, with dance, and with music, we are forced to stop and to feel the emotions again. We're moved in a special way.Joaquin's perspective was so simple and true. Life gets busy. Our senses are constantly in overdrive because we see, read, and interpret thousands of images and messages everyday. Overtime, we desensitize ourselves to distressful events going on around the world. What we don't know is that our emotional responsiveness to positive things can dimish overtime too. For example, when was the last time you were moved by a piece of music, a great book? We don't have to wait on someone or something to make us feel this way. We can be the ones to do this for others.
In Seville, I learned to never underestimate the power of music and dance, and the sense of community it brings to spectators, no matter where they are from.
