Presidential debate? I’d rather watch singing and dancing.

Who watched the Presidential debate last night? Lots of people, right? All the experts were expecting a record audience.

You know what I watched?

Recorded episodes of So You Think You Can Dance and The Voice.

I know. It sounds shallow, with everything that’s going on in today’s world. Shouldn’t I care more about our choices for President of the United States? My dad would say I should. He’d be horrified to know I watched singing and dancing shows rather than the debate. (But the truth is, my vote doesn’t matter, anyway, thanks to the electoral college and the fact that I live in Arizona – the reddest of the red states.)

So why did I skip the debate?

As I scrolled through my Twitter feed, I found a tweet that summed it up perfectly:

The favorable ratings for both candidates are lower than we’ve ever seen in America. These candidates do not represent Americans. They represent so many things most Americans find deplorable.

They’re divisive at a time when we most need to come together.

Okay, switching topics.

I was a dancer from ages 4-18.Of course I remember going to class, rehearsing, doing hair and makeup, and performing.

But you know what I remember even more? I remember the friendships we shared.

My dance friends and teachers were a second family. We did everything together. And we made friends with dancers from other towns, other studios, other backgrounds. Dance was something we had in common, something that brought us together despite our differences. Yes, we competed against each other. But we always came together in the spirit of something bigger than ourselves.

On So You Think You Can Dance, dancers compete for the title of, “America’s Favorite Dancer.” Each week, the show eliminates a certain number of contestants. This season, the show featured kids, who were mentored by previous adult contestants. It was so much fun to watch. The mentors and mentees grew so much together as dancers and as people.

More than being entertaining, the show proved that real people – not politicians parading around for votes, doing anything to win, saying anything to stay in the spotlight – real people want to connect. Real people want to share experiences, build each other up, and love each other.

On The Voice, singers audition to become members of the judges’ teams. The judges are famous singers – Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Alisha Keys and Miley Cyrus.

One of the contestants wasn’t selected, and when it was time for the judges to talk to her (after she finished her audition), she revealed that she’d been so nervous – but that it had been a huge win for her, to just get on stage and perform in front of people.

She was a beautiful young woman, a teenager, and this was her first time in the spotlight.

It was so obvious that she just needed a hug, and two of the judges, Adam and Miley, ran onto the stage and hugged her, congratulating her on taking the huge step of getting on stage. They encouraged her to come back next year.

They didn’t have to do it, but they reached out to her, lifted her up, and encouraged her to keep pursuing her dreams.

These people came together, sharing their love for music, and they lifted someone up.

So getting back to my point: the debate.

My point is that we don’t need more divisiveness. We don’t need more name-calling. We don’t need more lies.

We need each other. We need more love.

You may not dance or sing, but I can guarantee you have something in common with the people you see every day. Your kid’s teacher, that driver in the fast lane who’s going 10 under the speed limit, the guy behind you in line for coffee.

What the world needs now is love. Here’s my favorite routine from this season of So You Think You Can Dance. My kids thought it was “weird” but I thought it was beautiful. Love is the only thing that can heal all the chaos in our country and in the world.

Take a few moments to watch this video – and I’d like to hear what you think about it. 🙂

Then, spend the rest of today spreading the love.