MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY has a theory. Actually, Matthew McConaughey has lots of theories, about everything from how your drinking water quality affects your hairline to the way knowing the truth, seeing the truth, and telling the truth are all very different experiences. But one theory that's special to him goes like this: The closer we get to the site of our conception, the more wholly ourselves we are.
Not birthplace, mind you-conception. To be "full-blown shaking hands with where you were conceived," he explains, is to be hooked into your original essence. He's even thought about running experiments to test this. "Wouldn't it be interesting to take people back to where they were conceived and have them spend a month?" he says. "And then you could ask: How is your life? How are your thoughts? How is your creativity? How do you feel?" If Matthew is feeling good on this sunny Texas day--and that trademark grin of his keeps suggesting it-the reason might be just that: As he speaks, he's roughly 2 miles from Fort Davis, where, in early 1969, Kay and Jim McConaughey conceived him.
For Matthew, this is literal ground zero.
Not that there aren't other reasons for him to be feeling good.
Camila Alves McConaughey, his Brazilian-born wife of 12 years who's an entrepreneur, author, and founder of the lifestyle website Women of Today, is beside him for their first-ever Southern Living cover shoot. The couple has just embarked upon a journey to market their own brand of tequila, which they've named Pantalones, so they've got margaritas on their work to-do list.
To answer Matthew's questions, then: Life? Life is good. Thoughts? Firing right and left. Creativity? Flowing. Feelings? "I get here, and even my metabolism flies," he says.
Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Southern Living.
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Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Southern Living.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
THE FAMILY PLACE
When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
