Summoning My Inner Ballerina

After entering a writing contest on a whim, author Paula Mack Smith rediscovered her love of writing and a pressing need to to articulate the themes running through the fabric of her life. "In Summoning My Inner Ballerina: Balancing Love and Loss, Family and Friends, Life and Politics, " she shares the stories and memories that shaped her life.

She presents a series of anecdotes, some lighthearted, others wrenchingly profound, through which this baby boomer found her inner muse, the confident ballerina pictured on the cover. The photograph, taken in 1956, shows Paula at the age of ten. She would call upon her muse again and again for inner strength during the intervening fifty-five years, particularly in times of stress and sorrow. The little ballerina would always come through for her with her sunny, optimistic view of life.

Paula recalls not only happy times, but also poignant moments from her life in this heartfelt memoir, including the suicide of her best friend, the total loss of her beloved home from a fire, and the physical handicaps of her two children. "Summoning My Inner Ballerina" tells the uplifting tale of one woman's struggles with a life filled with daunting challenges on one hand and balanced by great good fortune on the other.