…and up on SELF’s web-edition, too: The Things We Do For Love.
I had a lot of fun thinking about and writing this one, and after a long time of hoping to work with my former personal essay teacher, SELF editor (and a beautiful, insightful writer to boot) Paula Derrow, I finally happened upon a subject and angle that was the right fit. We went through multiple drafts and versions, and it was a great experience. As anyone who’s read Mexican High can probably tell, the younger me wasn’t exactly an athlete–so finding capoeira through somewhat odd circumstances at age thirty was a happy surprise, even if finding out that the guy who introduced me to it had another girlfriend wasn’t. (Yet in the end, was, as, “in truth, I should thank him, because if we hadn’t met, I never would have ended up traveling to Brazil with two capoeira friends … And I would never have dreamed that an art that comes as close as possible to teaching a person to fly would turn out to be the very thing that keeps me grounded.”
PS – Another reason why I’m in heaven this week: I’m at Copalis Beach, WA. I am reading an incredibly long novel, and now – off to hiking and the beach! Seriously contemplating a move to Seattle. At least temporarily, maybe in the spring.