Living the Comma #33

[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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Living the Comma #33

Solitudes. Teachers. Parker Palmer.

“Love consists of this: that two [or more] solitudes border, protect and greet each other.” — Rilke

Dear Writer Friends,

A few weeks ago, theologian and writer Parker Palmer published an essay in his newsletter, Living the Questions, about his relationship to the work of Thomas Merton. (I have included the piece below — A Friendship, a Love, a Rescue.) I thought about the value of mentors who have shaped my life, the importance of intellectual and spiritual communities, and of how writing connects people across time and space.

It is not lost on me that his newsletter talks about living the questions and our work is about living the comma. Both the question and the comma are about breath and curiosity and learning and growth. Palmer quotes Rilke in the essay. Rilke talks about love as solitudes bordering, protecting, and greeting each other. That makes sense to me in the way writing (and the relationship we have with what we write and those we read and listen to) is ultimately a conversation not bound by time or space. Presence is quiet and sacred. Guidance is careful and shared. Creativity is generosity and love. Love is a symphony of solitudes acting in concert.

Conversations With Writers — Parker Palmer

What’s an Angry Old Quaker to Do? There may be snow on the roof, but there’s a fire in the furnace…

I’m a Quaker, a member of the Religious Society of Friends. Most people don’t know much about us—except for the oatmeal we don’t make—so here’s a primer: Quakerism began as a mid-17th century protest against what its founders saw as the Church of England’s distortion of the Gospel. The branch of Quakerism I belong to has no clergy and no creed, no list of fixed beliefs one has to sign to join, and does not believe that the Spirit stopped speaking when the Holy Writ got locked down. We believe in “continuing revelation,” in the human capacity to hear and act on the imperatives of the Spirit, and in living nonviolently at every level of our lives. — Parker Palmer

Read entire post here.

A Friendship, A Love, A Rescue: On finding mentors and friends across space and time…

I never met him, but Thomas Merton changed my life. This man who spent half of his 54 years as a cloistered Trappist monk and died before I learned about him is, to this day, one of my finest mentors and friends. I can’t imagine what I would have done or become without his quiet presence. — Parker Palmer

Read entire post here.

Living from the Inside Out

In his May 10, 2015 Naropa University graduation address, Parker Palmer offered the advice of Socrates, and urged Naropa graduates to lead “an examined life.” Parker is the founder of the Courage & Renewal Center in Seattle, WA, as well as an accomplished author and scholar. — Naropa University

Listen to the speech here.

A Writing Prompt

I have never met Parker Palmer in person. I have read his work and listened to speeches and conversations. I have definitely learned a great deal from him over the years. Palmer is one of many mentors. I suppose that is why his connection to Merton resonates with me so deeply. My mentor net is wide enough to include people I have read books written by, worked with, took classes from, and/or had conversations with.

Think about a favorite mentor — someone you have learned from in real life or on the page or screen. Maybe describe how you became aware of their work. Maybe share specific wisdom you have learned from them. Maybe recommend favorites pieces of their work for others to get to know them. Maybe write a thank you note.

Explore love’s solitudes. Where do you see love in your day-to-day? In what ways do you border, protect, and greet others? How does language — our words and our stories — connect us? Writing explores love’s solitudes. Our words shine light into our broken parts. Our words pay attention to what matters. Our words take care of one another.

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.