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Showing posts from April 21, 2013

Everybody Dance Now!

There are very particular points in life that I can look back to now and realize, wow, that really saved my life. Some are literal (like my dad giving me the Heimlich at age 8.5 when I choked on a Sweet Tart the first day we moved into our new Pasadena apartment), but most are metaphorical (though no less significant to me). One is deciding to really give myself over to becoming a writer (an event that is nearing its tenth anniversary). One is "discovering" therapy. And one is learning how to dance. When I was ages six and seven and eight, I took ballet classes. My best schoolyard friend, Yvette, was a tomboy, so I was embarrassed to tell her where I was going after school on ballet days. I made up excuses like doctors and dentists appointments to throw her off the scent. She must have thought I was very sick indeed. A personal childhood highlight was getting to be Little Miss Muffet in our local Reedley mini-production, mostly because my dress was real pretty and my mom ev