‘Dancing with Time’

In his new book, Dancing with Time, published by Messenger Publication, best-selling author José María Olaizola SJ writes of the journey from youth to maturity, using the extended metaphor of the dance. Using this imagery and drawing on Ignatian spirituality, Olaizola shows the reader how to embrace their own unique life story, endure the challenges that confront them on the way, learn to dialogue with others, and most of all never stop dancing with themselves, the world, and God.

“Time is music. Life is the dance”, he says, adding, “We move through the dance hall, sometimes alone, sometimes with others. Our dance partners change regularly. Sometimes the dance is fast, passionate and carefree; at other times our dance companions slow us down, exhaust and upset us. Our task is to stay engaged, be flexible and learn to accept different tempos.”

Taken together the stages of life – youth, adulthood and old age­­ can be understood as a ‘dance with time’, according to the author, who believes that by listening to the music and following our feet, we can learn to live in harmony with others, deal with failure and talk to our past and future selves.

Although we all have a life journey, Olaizola says that the process of moving from birth through youth and adulthood to maturity is a unique experience for each individual, who moves at a different pace from everyone else. And different stages of life have different paces in a single life. “Imagine if you will, life as a dance, with time as our companion along the pathways,” he suggests. “The music is a combination of words, laughter, tears, experiences, aspirations, regrets… we gradually start to move, often imitating others at the beginning, but as we progress and grow, we find our feet and create our own dance, each person moving to their own soundtrack.”

About the author

José María Rodríguez Olaizola SJ is a Jesuit and sociologist. His fields of interest are theology, sociology and spirituality. He is currently head of institutional communication for the Society of Jesus in Spain and is the author of a number of books in Spanish. He has an active social media presence, with pastoralsj and rezandovoy among his projects. Messenger Publications also published his prequel to Dancing with Time, titled Dancing with Loneliness, in 2023.

For further information and to request interviews and review copies, please contact Carolanne Henry, Messenger Publications, at [email protected] or on +353 87 637 6067.

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