My Dance With Time: A Philosopher's Quest

By Phyllis Parun

MY DANCE WITH LIFE chronicles the meanderings of the culturally rich life of this artist-author. Written in two traditional Japanese short forms, Haibun and Haiku, the author shares insights from a well-lived life through intriguing tales of the twists and turns her path has taken. Readers will recall their own life insights through this potent

• Language: English
• Publisher: Phyllis B. Parun
• Release date: Oct 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781732356054

Phyllis Parun

Born in the mysterious city of New Orleans, Phyllis Parun is a self-styled creative with an individual intelligence whose voyage of self-discovery destined her to develop first as a visual artist then as a gilding craftswoman and a pioneer culturer finally as philosophical poet. As a writer she has explored many literary forms: non-fiction, essays, short stories, philosophical and poetic memoir. Community activism set her course of involvement in black, gay and women's rights in late 1960s and in the arts in the mid-1970s then in the healing arts of the 1980s-90s. This author writes with insight and honesty about the human condition as she has lived it. New Orleans Born is her poetic homage to her New Orleans of the 1940-50s and continuing to 2000 in New Orleans Between Poetry and the Blues. In this, Phyllis' third book she continues traversing five decades of her life with captivating autobiographical tales about the people, eras, and circumstances that shaped her character and life. These personal tales will inspire any reader who seeks a deeper understanding of their own lives to remember long forgotten memories.Phyllis Parun is a deeply honest author and a quintessential example of Cocteau's dictum that "writing should be an act of love otherwise its nothing but handwriting." Ms. Parun's published genres include interviews, articles, essays, poems, e-Zines, visual art, and photography in a wide variety of local and national publications: The Beachcomber (LSUNO, 1961-63), AOBTA Pulse (2006), American Assn. of Oriental Medicine (1995), Macrobiotics Today (1991-2015), Gulf Coast Arts Review (2004), ArtLit (2006), Iris (2005), Qi: Journal of Traditional Eastern Health and Fitness (1995), The New Laurel Review (2001- 2015), The Maple Leaf Rag III (2006), Mending for Memory (2017) and creator of "The New Orleans Living Treasurers Award" and her self published eZine: "The New Orleans Avant-Garde" (2008 ongoing).

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Copyright © 2020 PHYLLIS B. PARUN

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing. For permissions contact the publisher or author.

Cover art and all illustrations are solely owned by the author and require permissions.

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Cover Design and Illustrations by Phyllis Parun

ISBN: 978-1-7323560-5-4

BERNARD PRESS

Publisher

New Orleans, Louisiana

First EBook Edition

In memory of

all the loving family members

who inspired confidence and creativity

and upon whose shoulders I now stand.

Everything step I take, they are beside me.

And for the many friends, colleagues and teachers

who shared the lives so generously

as we passed through each others lives.

Phyllis B. Parun

~

There is an ancient Buddhist story

about two monks, Fayan, a young

wanderer, and Dizang, his teacher.

One day Dizang saw Fayan dressed in

his traveling clothes and embarking on

a journey and asked, "Where are you

going?"

To which Fayan replied, On a pilgrimage.

Wondering why Dizang asked,

"What is the purpose of your pilgrimage?’

I don’t know, was Fayan’s reply.

~

CONTENTS

I Ancestors

II Father, Brother and Me

III Art

IV Philosophy Years

Acknowledgments

Author Biography

End Notes

I

Inspiration

in life’s winter

this childhood

I Ancestors

In 1865, after Great Grandfather and Grandfather Wolters, both named Philipp, arrived in the United States from Hamburg, Germany, they lived for many years in uptown New Orleans near the Mississippi River. At the turn