Living the Comma #10

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

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Words. Letters. Resolutions.

Dear Writer Friends,

“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language/ And next year’s words await another voice.” ― T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

I have chosen words of the year for many years. Each year, I look within and think about my I am, my why, my not yet, my joy, my light, my fire. My words do not necessarily represent another voice, but rather the voice I am excavating, finding, and learning. The trembling voice that speaks truth. The expansive voice that holds it all. The still small voice that knows.

Selecting a Word of the Year is related to making a resolution. Let me explain. Last year’s language folds into this year’s language as wisdom and understanding. Last year’s language — words taken together — becomes today’s vision. Last year’s language becomes today’s words rooted in love. As this year that often like a wave on the ocean that crashes the soul came to an end, I listen for another voice that continues to emerge.

Having talked about my love of Holiday Letters — knowing many of my past Words of the Year have come from past Holiday Letters, and the reflection that takes place as part of that writing process — I want to share our 2025 Holiday Letter.

Our next face-to-face writing session will be this Sunday, January 4th. To virtually connect with the group, use this link — https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85095318186.

This week’s prompt, 11 Days of Questions from Jane Ratcliffe’s newsletter Beyond — a joyous approach to reflection and resolution. Naomi Shahi-Nye’s Burning the Old Year— a beautiful look at what makes up our years. Zadie Smith explains, in her essay, “That Crafty Feeling,” “Reading about craft is like listening to yourself breathe. Writing about craft prompts a self–consciousness so acute one forgets how to exhale altogether.” The more I write, the more I relate to the breath of it all.

Surrounding the New Year in everything calm and bright.

From the heart of the comma,

Katie

Thank you for Living the Comma with me. This community is truly love and light. Subscribe to the Wide-Awakeness Project and share your light. It has never been more important.

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