Living the Comma #20

[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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Instructions. Purple. Advice. Essays. Sermons.

Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

— Mary Oliver

Dear Writer Friends,

I got my nails painted deep purple pink. They are now the color of the first magnolias that I see blooming on my walk. That feels important to share with our writing group. Writing is the way I pay attention to the blossoms on the trees, the color of my nails, the smell of the jasmine candle that sits inside our door, the taste of my favorite sushi, the scar on my left ankle that has healed beautifully since surgery a year ago. Paying attention matters. Life’s details matter. Telling about it, as Mary Oliver reflects, is part of living a life.

Spring is an invitation to pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it. It is an invitation to paint our nails deep purple pink and take pictures of blossoms and write our stories. It is an invitation to get our hands dirty with whatever work needs to be done. It is an invitation to focus our love and magic on what matters.

Our next in person writing session will be April 13 (to accommodate Easter, which is April 5th) at VHC after snack time.

We are scheduled to meet from 12:15 to 1:30 in May, too. To virtually connect with the group during our meetings, use this link — https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85095318186.

This newsletter — Living the Comma — is delivered weekly to keep our community up-to-date and writing.

This week’s writing exercise is literally good shit. Let me explain. I have been participating in Nadia Bolz-Weber’s “40 Days of Good Shit” Lenten project. Bolz-Weber explains, “With my Lenten “40 Days of Good Shit” project, my intention is attention. Rather than giving something up, I’ve chosen to notice the good, the kind, and the beautiful in my daily life—and to post about it each day.” Participating in the project has taught me a few things already. I am learning we find what we look for. By that I mean if we look for the good, even and especially when the bad surrounds us, the good becomes easier to find. I am learning we multiply the good when find it. I am learning how absolutely beautiful our world is, even as it is so hard, too. It is never too late to look for good shit.

A few thoughts about writing from the new On Being conversation with Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith, “This world is full of everything good, everything beautiful.”

In honor of Women’s History Month, I will be highlighting a few essays and sermons each week.

Kate Bowler, “Living with the Ache: Making Dinner While the World Burns”

Katie G. Cannon, “Positive Proof”

Rachel Held Evans, “All right, then, I’ll go to hell.”

This week, let’s pay attention, be astonished, and tell about it.

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.