Washington's Dance-Off

In this episode of the Cydni and Sher Podcast, Cydni challenges everyone to a dance-off and delivers a poetic performance while Sher tries to talk about George Washington. Somehow, they manage to tie the two ideas together. This episode is called "Washington's Dance-off," and we’re so glad you’re here!

This Week's Challenge
We challenge you to remember that joy is not a distraction from duty, so add more joy to your duties and join us for a 3:00 PM dance-off in the church halls.

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Show Notes

Drip-Drip Drop, Words and  Music by  Matt Hoiland
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Transcript

Episode 118 - Washington Dance-Off

Cydni: [00:00:00] I challenge you to a dance off. Hands off. No trash talk. No back walk on the blacktop. Just me. You. That's all. No cat calls, no tag team, no mascots right now. Dance off. Good on the floor. Good on the floor. I challenge you to a dance off. Anyway, that is my poetry for you today. Do you like it? 

Sher: The actions that were with that were really priceless. 

Cydni: I have this daydream where, I just like walk up to people and challenge them to a dance off like the old, the young bed bedridden doesn't matter. And I just am like, I challenge you to a dance off. That's one of my favorite songs. It gets me going on the treadmill. Anyway, when I was thinking about George Washington, I thought about. A dance off. 

 Welcome everyone to the Cydni and Share Podcast, AKA, the Cydni, and share dance off. Challenge you to dance off. 

Sher: I think that I definitely will lose that dance off, but I'll enjoy watching you. 

Cydni: I don't think so. After [00:01:00] going through this episode, I feel like you're gonna be so inspired to dance. And after listening to me talk, everyone will prefer to dance over listening to me talk. Sorry. all, because one time I said you appreciate not having a sore throat.

Sher: Cydni is gonna have a sore throat forever. Now don't say that, please. Okay. tomorrow you're gonna be all better.

Cydni: If it does continue, I will get better at dancing. I'll take it as a sign that God was like, I've always wanted you to be a dancer. The other day. My son and I were listening to some classical music and I was trying to have him tell me what he thought of what was the story as we are painting together. We both did terrible. We both quit. We were like, painting is stupid. And he thought he'd do good. 'Cause he likes Bob Ross on his tv, like 24 7. So he was like, I got this. No, he didn't. So I told him to pay attention better to Bob Ross. But anyway, I was like, what do you hear when you, hear this song? What's the story? And I was like, coming up with all these ideas. Like, and this one, it's about a ballerina. There's a ballerina. She's just a little girl, but she dreams of being a ballerina. And then her mom walks in the [00:02:00] door and is like, Cydni, you'll never be a ballerina. And then Rob was like, whoa, mom. And I was like, I mean, Amanda, he's like, that's why you paint better. You have more trauma. I'm like, just wait, buddy. 

Sher: You're doing whatever you can to help out in that area 

Cydni: to help him be more creative and funny. . I was like, Your painting is stupid. 

Sher: Good character building Cydni. 

Cydni: After all that. Bob Ross. And that's all you've got. What a disgrace. It's gonna help him. Those are all my intros. Sher, what do you got? 

Sher: Well, Cydni we're gonna continue with our summer series. We are combining history with joy because as we've learned, happiness is our birthright. So today we are gonna be talking about One of my very favorites, George Washington. You knew it was coming. 

Cydni: I did. 'cause you're wearing a George Washington t-shirt. 

Sher: I'm and a USA hat. I am all decked out today. You today are, thank you. You brought it. I'm wearing the same clothes I wore yesterday and I needed to wear a hat because my hair is sticking up in the air. 

Cydni: Right. So outfit of the day, for sure is American. That's right. And then later we're gonna [00:03:00] turn the Star Spangled Banner and have a dance off. 

Sher: Great idea. I love it. So a few facts about George Washington to get us started. , He wrote down 110 rules of civility, and he memorized these when he was 14 years old because he didn't feel like he was disciplined enough at the age of 14. And so he memorized all of these rules and this was a way to act and behave in polite society.

so this is one of the reasons why everyone trusted him is because truly he did everything he could to have self-mastery, and he started that journey at the age of 14. He also became the colonies general when we hadn't even declared our independence yet. He was the general for a full year before the Declaration of Independence was signed. So he was the main traitor of Great Britain. He was out there all by himself. Nobody had put their name to the Declaration of Independence yet, so he was like a sitting duck to the British, and they definitely wanted his head. But he did it anyway because [00:04:00] he believed in natural rights and agency. also, the story of him having wooden teeth, that is not true. His dentures were made from ivory human teeth. Animal bone gross, but so much better than wood. Right. That's exactly what I was thinking. He had constant dental problems and he only had one natural tooth by the time he was president. 

Cydni: The rest were raccoons. He's like, this raccoon tooth is really giving me a problem. 

Sher: That is so disgusting.

Cydni: That really is. And I once read that they took teeth from dead people. 

Sher: Oh, I'm grateful that we live during this time. Right. I like being a spoiled brat. 

Cydni: I love a time where we're constantly plagued with disease. It's so much better says the woman with the sore throat. I know. That's what I mean. 

Sher: so After leaving office, he opened one of the largest whiskey distilleries in America. At his home at Mount Vernon. He produced nearly 11,000 gallons of whiskey in the year [00:05:00] 1799. That's pretty impressive.

Cydni: I think so. And I read that he paid people like his doctors and, lawyers and such with whiskey. 

Sher: Yeah, he really loved his whiskey and if you get the chance, you gotta go to Mount Vernon. It is so incredible. And they talk about his whiskey production and all of that there. It's really cool. 

Cydni: I think I would like to be paid in whiskey as a mother. Pleasure to be a thing Do you want your kids to pay you in whiskey? I don't. Who, or just random people don't. Who? I mean, George Washington was the president, so maybe Trump. Trump should pay a stay at home mom. He needs to pay us and whiskey. Maybe more moms would do it. If we got paid in whiskey. 

Sher: Maybe you should write a letter to him. He might do it. I'm going to, . 

Cydni: So I don't know how that doesn't make sense. 

Sher: All right. Some more facts about George Washington. He never lived in the White House. The White House wasn't completed yet, so he first lived in New York City while he was the president and then moved to Philadelphia. He did help design Washington, DC and the White House, though. George Washington also [00:06:00] loved farming. He actually didn't really want to be President Washington. Just wanted to be a farmer. He experimented with crop rotations, composting. He kept detailed records of his agricultural experiments, and he was definitely more passionate about farming than politics.

Again, that's all he wanted to do, but he kept being asked to serve his country and so he would do it. I think that's the best kind of political leader is someone who doesn't really want to do it, that would be great for all politicians to feel that way.

 Ironically, Washington warned us about political parties in his farewell address. He worried that political parties would divide the country because they would be more concerned about their political party's power, and not the country.

I don't think that would happen. Yeah. Right. I don't see that. Yeah, me either. This hasn't happened yet. He's totally wrong. So he is the only US president never to join a political party. 

Cydni: So he is a fence sitter. 

Sher: That's right. or he was a peacemaker. 

Cydni: However you [00:07:00] wanna look at it.

Sher: Okay. He voluntarily gave up power, not once, but twice. After leading the Army as its general to victory, he resigned as general in 1783 rather than seize. Power Generals did not do that. They just kept going and conquering. George Washington resigned and then again after a second term in office as president in 1797. He refused a third presidential term and he stepped down again. And King George II reportedly said that if George Washington did that, he would be the greatest man in the world. So I guess he was the greatest man in the world. I'm so glad that's finally settled. King George III declared it, so it must be true.

Cydni: I don't know. Reba has that song about the greatest man she never knew. Was the same person. 

Sher: she probably never knew George Washington. 

Cydni: Okay. That makes sense now. I think I've had too many cough drops. , Can your brain stop functioning? 

Sher: Apparently it can But today, Cydni, we are going to focus on George [00:08:00] Washington's secret talent.

Cydni: Wait, wait, we forgot. One more. Very important. Fact about him. Oh, good. What is it that he was in Hamilton? 

Sher: Why do you do this to me? Why? Had a great solo. You're just torturing me. So earlier this year we discussed that we can't be happy all the time, and we used Ecclesiastes chapter three where it says there's a time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. Time to dance. Dance. That's right. We didn't understand why dance was the opposite of mourn, but I think we have the answer to why the opposite of mourn is dancing Now. Washington is gonna explain that to us because Washington's secret talent was dancing. 

Cydni: I love this. Now it ties [00:09:00] together with the beginning poem. People were probably like, this is gonna tie in. Somewhere, or maybe at this point they're like, it's probably not gonna tie in, but let's just continue.

Sher: Well, that's what I thought. So Washington was considered a graceful and skilled dancer, especially at formal balls and gatherings from the time he was just a kid to his years, as president, he often attended dances. The Minette was his favorite. The Minette is a slow, elegant, and refined partner dance requiring perfect posture and poise. 

Cydni: Oh man. I bet he wishes he was around during TikTok. He would've loved that. . 

Sher: I also think that Minette describes both of us, don't you think? 

Cydni: Yeah. everything about this. Like graceful, elegant. That's us. 

Sher: Or not. Alright. Even during times of war, George Washington made sure to dance during winter encampments. Washington once danced for three straight hours at a ball in honor of his troops, and he did this [00:10:00] just to make them happy. at the 1779 Morristown Winter encampment, he attended nearly every dance hosted by the locals.

Martha Washington was usually his dance partner, of course. But young women would hope to be his partner and he rarely. Rarely declined their invitation. was known to dance with every woman that wanted to dance with him, and he wouldn't leave the event until all the women were happy.

Cydni: What a man 

Sher: indeed. 

Cydni: I'm just here to make them happy. Let me hold your body close against my Martha. Don't worry about this. It's just to make them happy. 

Sher: The Sacrifices, the sacrifice. This is how Ms. Charlotte Chambers described meeting President George Washington to her mother, Mrs. James Chambers, in a letter dated Wednesday, February 25th, 1795.

She said. We were not long seated. When General Washington entered and bowed to the ladies as he passed around the room. He [00:11:00] comes, he comes. The hero comes. Involuntarily but softly. Exclaimed. When he bowed to me, I could scarcely resist the impulse of my heart that almost burst through my bosom to meet him.

Cydni: Wow. He was making those ladies happy. Right. I just wanna go back to Martha. Shout out to his wife, Cydni. My goodness. Oh my gosh. Actually, let's talk about Martha, because I'm going to take this off track for a second. I was listening to, there's a really fun channel that has like weird history, facts. So She wasn't too happy, I guess, the same as George Washington to have him be president. She wrote to her brother, , she was so truly sorry to tell him. That George was victorious in the election, and I loved that part as a wife because I thought, you know, sometimes I feel that way when Ben has to coach soccer on Saturday mornings. You wanna be that wife that's very supportive of these extra activities like president or soccer coach. But sometimes you just are like, great. You're not even home long enough to tend to the garden, and now [00:12:00] you have to go be a president or coach soccer at 8:00 AM you know? Yeah, same thing. 

Sher: It is the same thing. 

Cydni: But speaking of making the ladies happy too, he did write letters to other women. Yes, he did. And I loved that they shared these two. One is written about another woman. One is written about Martha. he said about another woman and he's telling her, listen, this isn't gonna work out 'cause I am devoted to another lady. But PS he said, I feel the force of her aimable beauties in the recollection of a thousand tender passages that I could wish to obliterate. That's what he writes, Kate. That, that's pretty passionate. I know. But then what he wrote about. Martha was that she was an animating prospect. I was like, no wonder she wasn't stoked about all of this. 

Sher: She's like, get your butt home and quit dancing with the ladies. 

Cydni: Right. I know you gotta make him happy, but how happy do you gotta make him? George Martha's at home. Anyway, back to his good character. 

Sher: And his good character was that he was [00:13:00] completely 100% devoted to his wife, Martha, the reason there's not a lot of letters going back and forth between the two of 'em, is because upon George Washington's death, Martha gathered up all their love letters and she burned all of them.

The reason she did this is because that was the only part of her life that was still kept private and she wanted to keep it that way. So she burned all the letters. However, upon her death. When they were cleaning up the room, they pulled out a desk drawer and behind it, a couple of letters had fallen out behind the drawer. And so that's really all the letters that we have between George and Martha Washington. I think this simple statement sums up how George Washington felt about Martha. He said, I retain an unalterable affection for you, which neither time or distance can change. And that's truly how George Washington felt about Martha. Anyway, back to the dancing. So his dancing wasn't just [00:14:00] about fun. It was a way to build unity and boost morale among soldiers, officers and civilians, especially the ladies. As we've learned, he understood that joy is not a distraction from duty. It's part of the fuel that sustains it. I honestly, I get that statement because teaching is really hard sometimes, but when I could find joy in my classroom, it made it so much fun and everything was so much better when my attitude was that of joy. I could share it with my students. And then it became so much fun. So leadership can also look like laughter, music and movement, I'm sure it made him more endearing to his soldiers and his fellow citizens and it made him more human. I. There is a lot to mourn about during war, but Washington still made time to dance.

He understood that God wants us to do our best to find joy in the moments of calm. If George Washington could make time to dance during a war, surely we can [00:15:00] pause to enjoy the music in our own lives. And dance. 

Cydni: When I was looking this up, I also just looked up the benefits of dancing and there were so many not just being active and staying fit, but a lot of people believe that dance promotes healing in different ways This reminded me of a story that happened years ago. I worked at a gym and I sold memberships, so part of the process is you gave a tour around the gym and you asked specific questions, and I remember still vividly this very funny woman comes in and she was just her own personality, she was honestly hilarious. She was just a full character of a person. And I asked her one of the questions, what are you currently doing for activity and wellness? And she said. Well, sometimes when nobody is home, I go upstairs and I just dance. It was so funny. Nobody had ever said that before. And, while we went on a tour of the gym, she danced everywhere. She danced up the stairs. When she got up, she did a twirl. [00:16:00] She danced down the stairs, she danced in the gym and twirled, and I was like, this is so funny. I can't wait to tell everybody about this crazy woman.

And I did. I was like, guess what? Let me tell you about my tour. So I did think it was funny, but years later I realized that she was so free. She was the most free and happy person., and as I've learned more about just movement and what it does, one of the best things I've heard to explain it is we are made up of 70% water, as they say, but if water is stagnant, it starts to build bacteria and you have to have flow. You have to have movement like an ocean or a river, and dance is a beautiful way to do that. connecting all of this together, it's so funny to see someone seem so ridiculous almost like you would make fun of, but then to realize how free and beautiful the movement is and with that, we challenge you to really focus on the sentence that Joy is not a distraction from [00:17:00] duty. Add more joy to your duties and we challenge you to find us . In the church halls 3:00 PM dance off 

Sher: or else? Every Sunday or every day? Every day. Every day.

Cydni: Every day at 3:00 PM we'll be at the church, all of them We challenge you to a dance off.

Sher: This brings us to our final thoughts as we continue through our July summer series. Combining History and Happiness. George Washington offers us a perfect example. Not only was he our first general and one of our most principled leaders, but he also knew how to embrace joy Even in the most difficult times, Washington didn't just lead through speeches and strategy. He led with joy, grace, and rhythm. His love of dancing wasn't just a personal pleasure, it was a purposeful act to lift spirits and foster unity. He made time to dance during a war, to bring light into darkness and to remind others that joy can be found even in hard times. If the father of our country could make time for laughter, [00:18:00] music and movement in times of war we can do the same in our own lives. So dance. Dance to celebrate, to connect, to heal, to feel alive, and allow joy to fill your heart. This is our prayer 

Cydni: from Cydni and Sher. I feel like if George Washington listened to this, he'd be so mad at me. I was a little, I don't know. 

Sher: Yeah, I think you would be, 

Cydni: I was telling him different stories or I was just like making up stories. What was I doing? Why was I doing this? Hold on a second. Lemme try to remember. Oh, oh,

Sher: sorry, has I already messed up? Ecclesias, Ecclesiastes. We used Ecclesiastes. Oh my gosh.

Cydni: That I could wish to oblate. Obli. What is it? Obliterate. Obliterate. That, that she [00:19:00] was animating an animating, animating, animating an animating prospect. I could feel my throat just being like, oh, okay.

Sher: Oh my goodness. I can say words. Have a good week. Bye.