"As an awkward tween, there was little more nerve-wracking than having to pair up in girl-boy fashion. Well, except for having to learn all the steps when the course of study expanded to country line dancing in middle school. I could nail the Elvira basic grape vine. That was easy enough. When we were asked to tackle the Watermelon Crawl, though? Whew. I wanted to dip down, spin around, and teleport to literally anywhere else."
"I was super-worried about stomping my heel, instead of my toe. Or turning left when everyone else was pivoting to the right. The idea of making a mistake and messing up in front of my peers made my pulse thump and my palms sweat. It also stole all the joy from the experience. I might have enjoyed a Boot Scootin' Boogie, if I weren't so in my head and determined to blend in."
Childhood gym classes required learning square dancing and country line steps, triggering intense anxiety about pairing and performing. The narrator recalls mastering some moves but panicking over more complex steps like the Watermelon Crawl. Physical symptoms such as a racing pulse and sweaty palms accompanied the fear of making visible mistakes. That fear removed the pleasure from dancing and fostered a strong desire to blend in. With maturity came the realization that peers were similarly preoccupied with their own insecurities. The narrator later tried to apply that calmer mindset at a country western bar in Hollywood.
Read at ESPN.com
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