An Offering: Leif to Leif...

...and finally to you. 

On Tuesday I opened a package containing an advance copy of DANCING WITH MY FATHER in Paperback. Complex reactions... But, is there any other way for this woman to respond. She rushes forward, than creeps away. Always I have been this way: First hiding in the folds of my mother's skirt; then with the right encouragement, spilling my heart through dance and various other creative means. 

I had had the package for two days before I could bring my self to open it. My response this time is so different from when the book first came out in hard cover. I was so eager in 2005 to hold it in my hands, to savor its beauties and intricacies after months of writing and drawing, after more months of waiting for its publication. This time I found myself glad of the re-publication, yet prepared for a let down. Paper back couldn't be as pretty as the beautifully designed subtlety of the first little book. 

Yet it is... The color is more intense. It springs toward the eye more boldly this time, and over the last two days I have seen and have opened my heart to the dance this book holds out to me. I find myself almost ready to follow the path that beckons me...to join this dance as I did the first. The steps of my dance will be more moderate; I am eleven years older. Mindfulness is essential for my older self. I must give myself the option to creep away when the dance is too overwhelming, when physical frailties cry out to me for rest, when sensitive emotions need my attention. Yes... Essential...

Yesterday I had fun taking pictures that might say something of what I wanted to say to my friends on blip. You may recognize the portrait of my sixteen-year-old ballerina self. I found myself once more wanting to include my younger self. She is so very integral to the stories told in this book. 

A few extras of complex reactions...

The book should be available at University Press of Mississippi in the arts section. It isn't yet available at Amazon.