I left my internet devices home but I saw many rural Cubans sitting in their living rooms or porches without electronic devices. I realize my parents and grandparents did without email, Facebook and Google News. I also heard plenty of drumming and rhythmic activities as we traveled around Cuba. I got to thinking about rhythmic tapping, drumming, and dancing as a more or less hypnotic and unifying pastime.
I think I have an ok sense of rhythm. I was the drum sergeant of my high school drum and bugle corps. Relatedly, the musical Amandla! - A Revolution in Four Part Harmony has a scene in South Africa during Apartheit where a white policeman interferes with a black voter in a line waiting to vote. Immediately, the whole line of people start humming and rhythmically moving in place. The sound and the unified movement unites the group in an impressive way. The solidarity and unison motivates the policeman to move away.
Practicing a rhythm, especially a syncopated one, can be quite hypnotic and engaging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXDkSKpH1Ns
So, if you have nothing to do, think about making a rhythm. It can be with your fingers on a surface such as a table or a drumhead. It can be on the head of a box of salt or oatmeal. Tap, tap, tap, pause, taptap.
Our forefathers and mothers had no YouTube, no smartphones. If they had come across a smartphone that someone accidentally dropped, it would have been of no use since there was no signal, no internet, no carrier company. You can make do with a nice beat for a while.
With a nice syncopated rhythm, you or those around you often develop a tendency to move with the rhythm. Head nodding, weight shifting, foot tapping all lend themselves to keeping the rhythm while dusting, peeling potatoes or apples, and similar activities. In no time, keeping a syncopated rhythm will make you feel like a dancer and your reputation as one will grow.
