One of my favorite things in Life is to allow myself to get swept up in emotion, evoked by an experience of beauty.

Tonight I took my girl on a mommy/daughter date. We ate at the historic hotel where her dad and I were married. Snuck into the closed sections to visit ballrooms and opulent bathrooms. Then we walked across the street to the Paramount Theater to see the Royal Winnipeg Ballet perform Moulin Rouge, a glorious tragedy – full of color, can-can and tango dances, romance.

When I was young, my family attended every local symphony performance. Somehow I grew up to love the arts and become a musician despite my recollection of those afternoons as prim, cramped, overly-mannered and a relief to get over with. This may be why I haven’t taken my children to many live performances of anything.

Tonight was different. Somewhere in Life I’ve learned to let go of manners and feel comfortable in my own way of sitting, sense of style, my skin. I was somehow able – even in the built-for-much-smaller-people cheap seats – to get lost in the music, story, beauty, tears. There was occasional squirming from the eight-year-old beside me, and I was ok with that. Probably because she insisted on having me read to her what would happen in the second act. Probably because of the gleam of significance in her eyes all night, her love of the beautiful old theater, and the times she sat straight up when the music mood changed and craned her neck to better see the nuances of the movements onstage. Most likely because she is my flesh and blood, a creature of beauty, a girl who loves getting swept up in her emotions – and I wish her a Lifelong ability to do so.

• Tags: beauty, children, emotion, Movement
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