Don't Hum with Your Mouth Full

There I sat at the supper table - one foot dangling, the other sharing the seat of the chair with my butt; right elbow resting on the knee that was now at table-level, left hand wielding a fork and digging into supper. "Don't hum while you're eating," reprimanded my Grandma Hilja. Although shocked, I took her advice seriously and, to this day, I rarely hum while eating.

However, I am persuaded that life should more closely resemble a musical than a tragedy. I've never found it odd to see characters break into song or dance at diverse or even unlikely moments in a movie or dramatic performance. Whether we can carry a tune or not, music carries us; it is woven into the very fabric of who we are.

This may partially explain why I love flash mobs (of the musical variety). Here we are, in the middle of an ordinary day, doing our ordinary stuff, and ... SURPRISE! People, real people all around us, erupting in song and dance. Pure joy!