Weekly Wide-Awake #23

[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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How to Begin, Again.

Then what in your opinion is a good story? ‘What it’s always been, monkey,’ Ganesha said. ‘One dhansu conflict. Some chaka-chak song and dance. Grief. Love. Love for the lover, love for the mother. Love for the land. Comedy. Terror. One tremendous villain whom we must love also. All the elements properly balanced and mixed together, item after item, like a perfect meal with a dance of tastes. There you have it.

― Vikram Chandra

All good stories — with all the elements, items, and tastes — have beginnings. Even the most twisty, upside down, magical, and mundane stories take a first breath. They begin. I am thinking about beginnings — the beginning of a new school year, the beginning of a new season, the beginning of the next phase of healing after foot surgery. My approaching wedding anniversary and birthday feel like beginnings to me, too. The list of beginnings makes my eyes tear up and my palms sweat. Grateful for the past, present, and future. Joyful to be here. Breathing into it all. I plant my feet. I pay attention. I begin again.

The Hindu god Ganesha is celebrated every year around this time. Millions honor Ganesha as the guardian of beginnings and remover of obstacles during the Festival of Ganesha every year around the harvest moon. Celebrating right now feels right to me in the way that fall colors begin to bounce and whisper and invite, the harvest moon sheds new light in darkness, and the upcoming season means we gather and feast and give thanks. A clearing of the way — a thankful release — happens. Life’s coming together and falling apart finds poetry right now. Leaves begin to fall and we are reminded of life’s ebb and flow. Days lengthen and we are reminded of the need to rest amidst it all. Through all the in-betweens, the beginnings and obstacles, love is right here. Right now.

Finding Strength to Make Sunshine

I was given my first Ganesha in 1998. I was in a women’s prayer group in Indianapolis. I was moving to Bellingham, Washington, and the group gave me a small bronze Ganesha at the final meeting before I left. The small statue had a card attached that explained, “Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed God, was born to earth as the son of Shiva and Parvati. He is the remover of obstacles from our spiritual paths. He blesses our beginnings. Seeking his guidance, his devotees meditate upon the image of Lord Ganesha before starting any new venture.” I had never seen Ganesha before receiving my gift. They gave it to me to bless my journey. I have carried that small statue with me as I have moved, achieved, failed, started, stopped, climbed, crawled, crashed, and flown for more than 20 years.

Ganesh Chaturthi and Dupont Circle

During 2013, Katie and Greg had the good fortune to travel to South Asia. In March, Katie visited Bali and in July and August, Greg visited India. On those trips, they each learned of the Hindu God Ganesha, who is believed to remove obstacles from our spiritual paths and protect the important beginnings of our lives. The couple met one month after Greg’s return, during the Festival of Ganesha, the largest Hindu festival in India. Today, September 19th, 2015 also falls during the Festival of Ganesha. On this day of beginnings, may he bless the union of Katie and Greg. Om shanti. Om shanti. Om shanti. Om. — Text From Our Wedding Program

The Festival of Ganesha, Ganesh Chaturthi, fell during our wedding weekend. During the Festival, millions of people who celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi immerse clay idols of Ganesha in bodies of water to honor him. In the Hindu context, the act of immersing the clay idol follows days of preparation, worship, and feasting. The immersed idols dissolve, thus releasing the spirit of Ganesha to the Universe. Immersion of the Ganesha idol is seen as an offering, an act of gratitude for blessing of our beginnings and removing obstacles from our path. We chose to have our wedding during this time of celebration.

A Voice From the Stillness

Think about your voyages. Think about your edge and what you learn at the edge. Stillness can be found at the edge.

I went to Bali to study yoga. I learned about stillness there, too. In the silence of the Balinese New Year, I bathed, breathed, burned, chanted, cried, journaled, sat, and twisted. I stood under the waters of Tirta Impul asking for forgiveness. I visited a Balinese Healer seeking spiritual answers to deep questions. (He reminded me I did not have to carry the weight.) I walked on rice terraces searching for Ganesha to remove my obstacles and bless my beginnings. I played with monkeys in a forest. I sent offerings of flowers down a jungle river in a prayer for wholeness.

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