Danzig will be at LeeLaa Yoga, located at 72 N. Main St. in Springboro, at 7:30 p.m. on March 20, a Wednesday, to read from her book and to give a talk on “Meaningful Choices: Making Meaning Out of Suffering.” (For event details: www.leelaayoga.org or call (937) 477-2241.)
“For me, writing ‘Fierce Joy’ was about honoring what it’s taken for me to stay alive, but more than that, about making the choice to have joy,” says Danzig. “I believe all of us deserve to have joy, that our birthright, our life purpose, is joy.”
Danzig was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, Ewing’s sarcoma, in 1967 when she was 5. Although not expected to live, she survived, only to have the cancer return at age 13. She lost her lower left leg, and later, due to side effects from childhood treatments, the use of her kidneys.
Simply being a “normal young woman” was a struggle, Danzig says, but she pursued various dreams, including dance, and has received degrees from Union College, La Sorbonne, the University of Edinburgh, the Goethe Institute and Harvard University.
She was a candidate for a Ph.D. in Medieval French at Columbia University when her kidneys began failing, and found herself called to become a yoga instructor, although she’d only experience yoga as a participant a few times.
“This was a visceral calling,” Danzig says, “and I decided to follow it.”
Since then, yoga has been her work and her passion. In 2006, she received a kidney transplant; that, she says, gave her renewed energy to pursue other goals, including writing.
“People have been telling me for years that I should write about my experiences,” Danzig explains. Although she experimented with writing, she didn’t find energy to focus on writing until after her transplant. She began, she says, to find her writer’s voice and message.
“I want to share through my writing, as I have through yoga, that we all ask the same questions about life: Why do we suffer? Is there any meaning in suffering or pain? Does my life have meaning? I believe it does, and that meaning is to make choices that help us find joy even in the midst of suffering or pain, and to stay true to life’s purpose, which is joy,” Danzig says.
She adds that in addition to continuing her yoga practice and work, she has many more ideas for creative writing. “I’d like to address self-care topics and write for children,” she says.
Danzig’s book will be available for sale and for signing at her March 20 talk at LeeLaa Yoga.
Literary news
Today, March 10, 2 p.m., at Books & Co. at The Greene, Beavercreek: Antioch Writers' Workshop free Sunday mini-workshop, a "Self-editing/Grammar Boot Camp!" Led by Kate Geiselman, Sinclair Community College Instructor of English, and Rebecca Kuder, Antioch University Midwest Instructor of Creative Writing. Details: www.antiochwritersworkshop.com.
Thursday, March 14, 6:30 p.m., at the Dayton Metro Library, Main Branch, 215 E. Third St.: "Poet's Night at the Library." Share and discuss poetry you write in small, supportive group, or just listen and give feedback. For more information, call (937) 463-BOOK (2665).
Saturday, March 16, 2 p.m., at Wright Library, 1776 Far Hills Ave., Oakwood: "100th Anniversary of the Great Dayton Flood." Oakwood Historical Society past-president and current board member Mark Risley will give a presentation. Visit www.wright.lib.oh.us or call (937) 294-7171.
Washington-Centerville Public Library sponsors the Dottie Yeck "Good Life Award" essay writing contest open to teens in grades 7-9 in Montgomery County. Rules and other details may be found at www.wclibrary.info/gla.
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