Special discount by author to expandthetable readers! A Drop in the Ocean and Dancing with Dragons are discounted to US$2.99 and Canada $3.99. Go to link: https://books2read.com/b/Dancing-with-Dragons
Jenni Ogden. Dancing with Dragons
Pain and healing are core emotions of Jenni Ogden’s Dancing with Dragons. Both as an observer of people and as a psychologist, the author aptly and with compassion and sensitivity takes her characters through trauma and recovery, as she puts it, “how to live happier lives” even when problems persist.
The road to healing is from many directions: friendship, family, nature, dance and, of course, the sea dragons. All bring healing. Inspiring were the individuals who helped others, who weren’t family, who helped for the sake of the other. The force of “the power of one” resonated through my mind, in terms of what we as individuals can do to support others. Mutual caring is a great healer, for the giver and receiver. Both are receivers.
A symbol of the natural world’s wonders are the sea dragons, almost magical in the eyes of the main characters Gaia. The author’s description of the sea dragons, as for all the outdoors, shows her love and respect for nature, a strong part of this novel. Nature, in all its parts, is both a treasure to enjoy and a place of healing for Gaia, her brother Bron and the orphan Jarrah, who is an Aboriginal. Nature restores the human spirit and soul.
Losing parents is part of the plot for more than one character. It is a theme of the author, having suffered this loss when she was 17. A fire at the beginning of the novel leaves Gaia and her brother Bron, promising classical dancers, orphans. Gaia is severely burned and is injured in body and spirit. Like Gaia, the author has lived and travelled in remote places, loving the natural environment and open spaces. It is these spaces, at time alone and, at times, lonely, that builds Gaia to be independent.
As Gaia grows stronger and more self-reliant, she is determined to live alone on her family’s land. She creates a large vegetable garden, which partially feeds her. She is asked to adopt an orphaned baby kangaroo, which becomes a kind of pet and companion. She returns to dance alone on the beach and finds solace swimming in the coral reefs in the environment where the sea dragons live and breed.
At the same time as becoming partially healed through nature, she learns to open herself to allow support from others, a difficult task for her, as well as Bron and Jarrah.
I asked Jenni how a person moves from pain to healing and a productive life. “There is one commonality I think in the path to healing, and that is to have around them people who care, that the person in pain can relate to in an emotional sense as well as practical. This in a perfect world is the family, and by family, I mean ‘found’ family whether that is their biological family or friends, or best of all a combined ‘support’ team. It is a tough ask when someone is hurting for a support person to carry the load of caring without their own support.”
This is a poignant journey embracing life and love that Jenni Ogden has created; as Gaia and other characters struggle and strengthen, help reaches out, affirming the role that friendship and family play in enduring and healing.
These simple Aussie Salad Sandwiches began as a no-frills lunch, sold at roadside gas stations, delis and simple restaurants. They were a frequent school cafeteria lunch, packed by parents into lunchboxes and certainly served at home and for work. For many Australians, these sandwiches are unpretentious and, at the same time, nostalgic and are having a revival.
