Remembering and Forgetting

[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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Remembering and Forgetting

What can I do to remember who I really am?

Juan Ramon Jimenez

I write

Writing connects me with something deep inside my soul. It always has. I spent hours upon hours writing as a child. As soon as I learned to read, I wanted to write, too. Sometimes I would journal. Sometimes I would illustrate short stories. Sometimes I would write reports (just for fun). Sometimes I would write biographies of famous people. Writing has been a through line to my life. I have written through sadness. I have written through joy. I have written through questions. I have written for a living. I have written to learn.

I practice yoga

I started practicing yoga 18 years ago. My practice has suffered the last three years. My lapsed practice, and my recent return over the last few months, has reminded me about the important role it has grown to play in my life. It reminds me to really breath. It reminds me to be gentle with myself. It reminds me to notice and celebrate glimpses and inches of progress across the breadth of my life. It reminds me I am connected to the world of all living things.

I get outdoors

Being in nature slows me down. My senses come alive and I wake up. My mind clears. One of the reasons I love distance running is the way it connects me to the natural world. Right now, distance running is my main outdoor time. Growing up, I remember the Ohio River. In the Pacific Northwest I remember exploring Mount Baker. In Bali, I remember rice terraces of brilliant blue. In New Zealand, I remember brilliant blue glaciers. In Hawaii, the volcanoes.

I listen to music and sing

I sang in choirs from before I was tall enough to reach a microphone. I love making playlists. I have a CD collection that spans more years than I care to admit. (Admitting that I still have a CD collection immediately ages me.) I feel connected to others and when I am singing. Music evokes memories. Music makes me dance. (Even though I have never been very good.)

I go home

Perhaps the most powerful way I remember who I am is by going home. I have lived all over the United States, but I am from Louisville, Kentucky. No matter where I have lived. Home is Louisville. The Ohio River. The Kentucky Derby. My family is in Louisville. I have written a lot about home. Particularly at Derby time, I get nostalgic for the soft forgiving place that requires no explanation. It offers a safe space to remember because many memories are there. Its complexity is my complexity. Its truths are my truths.