Gifted? Lonely? Learn the Argentine Tango

September 14, 2015 by Paula Prober 29 Comments

That would be me and the tango.

Are you looking for a way to meet people who are smart, sensitive, creative and curious? Are you wondering where computer geeks, philosophers, physicists, musicians, artists, avid readers and psychotherapists gather? Would you like to engage in an activity that will improve your balance, flexibility and your brain? Are you needing a way to get embraced by friendly strangers whose sole purpose in that moment is to tune into your beating heart?

Yes?

Then you need the Argentine tango.

When I started dancing the tango at age 47, I quickly became enthralled by the beauty, the music, and the sensual-osity of it all. And because I’m always on the lookout for rainforest minds, I was pleasantly surprised to find so many in one place. I think that’s because the Argentine tango is both intellectually and creatively challenging to learn and so very satisfying once you reach a certain level of competence.

Tango requires all of those things that you already have: intelligence, sensitivity, curiosity, intuition, and empathy. And it gives you something that you may not have — safe, sweet moments of intimacy with other humans.

I am not making this up.

You may have trouble finding people who want to travel into the depths with you. You may have trouble finding people who can keep up with your rapid thoughts and complicated emotions. And if you’re an avid reader, researcher and writer like Maria Popova, the creator of the fabulous weekly online digest Brain Pickings, most of your friends may be “dead people.”

Let me explain. Maria Popova describes herself as “…an interestingness hunter-gatherer and curious mind at large.” Her website is, as she says, “a subjective lens on what matters in the world and why.” She synthesizes the work of all sorts of great thinkers, authors and artists (many of them dead) and draws her own brilliant conclusions. I’m guessing that she’s got a rainforest mind. She was interviewed by Krista Tippett for her program On Being and asked to speak for her generation. (She was 30 at the time of the interview.) She said that she couldn’t do that because, “…most of my friends are dead people.” She’s not spending much time with her generation.

Perhaps you aren’t either.

So, if you’re looking for some humans who are smart, sensitive, creative, and curious and if, most of your friends are dead people and you want to find some living ones, well, now you know what to do.

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To my blogEEs: If you want to find an Argentine tango community near you, Google is your friend. It seems that there are Argentine tango communities all over the world. Let us know how it goes. And let us know what other activities you do to find rainforest-minded souls. Oh, and be sure to check out Brain Pickings and On Being. And thanks, as always, for reading and sharing.