Yearning

[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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Before we blink, we know each other.

Mark Nepo

How many names do we have for knowing? Best friends. Soul mates. Family. Neighbors. Community. Can that knowing exist between strangers? Do we have special name for that? Humanity? Compassion? Kindness?

A few years ago, I conducted a smile experiment to connect with my, then new, Miami community. My thought was to smile at every person who passed me on my path during my morning run. Sometimes I would even say, “Morning,” when I could muster the breath. I smiled at everyone. I smiled at old and young people. I smiled at men and women. I smiled at people of all ethnicities. I smiled at people with and without headphones. I smiled at runners and walkers. I smiled at people with and without dogs. I smiled at people with and without strollers. I smiled at people who were in groups and people who were alone. I smiled and said, “Morning!” a lot.

What did I learn about knowing from my smile experiment?

I felt better when I smiled.

I smiled even after I stopped feeling like it. Focusing on smiling and people’s reactions, and logging a mental record of results in my mind’s eye, kept my mind busy. The actual run felt better because I was not focused on the average bodily aches and pains. Even my music seemed to inspire my almost rhythmic reaction as people would pass and I would smile and bob my head to the beat.

Knowing can be found in smiles.

Smiling is infectious. Other people smile. I smile. I am not sure I ever took note of how nice it is to be smiled at until I was smiling. I am not sure I ever took note of how many people do, in fact, smile. I am now much more aware of the general kindness that surrounds me. The Grocery. Restaurants. The street. Stores. I am sure people smiled at me before my experiment, but I feel it more now. There is a knowing in smiles.

Dogs make people smile

This probably makes sense to all pet lovers, but it was definitely evident during my experiment. I could not stop smiling when I saw a dog. Similarly, people walking dogs were often smiling. Dogs smelling my hand. Dogs smelling each other. Dogs smiling. I guess it is fair to say I always smile at dogs and their owners. I find out names. I complement. Dogs inspire me to be my kindest self. (I feel this way about cats, too, but cats did not participate in the experiment.)

Smiling is easy

Is is not hard to smile. Smiling does not take talent. Smiling does not take time. Smiling does not take money. Smiling does not cause wrinkles. Smiling does not create enemies, or anxiety, or sadness. Smiling builds happiness, strength, and peace. Smiling builds knowing.

https://kitt.global/february-3-yearning-mark-nepo-the-book-of-awakening/