The One Direction

[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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Live deep enough and there is only one direction. – Mark Nepo

What is living in one direction?

There are many names for our one direction – our path, our still small voice, our truth, our north star, our compass, our calling, our light, perhaps even our destiny. We all have one direction. We know when we are living our one direction. We know when we are not. We know when we are surrounded by people who live in one direction. We know when we are not.

What does living one direction look like?

Living in one direction looks like choosing the less complicated, conflicted, tied up in knots way. Living in one direction looks light and feathery like you want to jump and roll around in it and never leave. Living one direction is wrapping yourself in a down of lightness when darkness or confusion settles in. One direction is comforting that way. Living in one direction is a dance between our freedom and our truth; where the lead changes, the steps do not remain the same, and music frames the rhythm.

How do I find one direction when I have lost my way?

I breathe. I forgive myself and others. I listen. I count my blessings. I get outdoors. I do a yoga class. I talk with my husband. I talk with my Mom. I talk with a dear friend. I cuddle with my cats. I cook. I take a long bath with lavender oil.

What do I learn from mentors and friends about my one direction?

Mentors and friends have taught me that my one direction has been consistent throughout my entire life. My center has held through shifts and changes. (I suspect that is how it is with our one direction.) Mentors and friends have taught me that my one direction is connected to my greatest source of joy, and that is something to be cherished, shared, protected, nurtured, fed, sought, and held up. Most importantly, friends and mentors have modeled living life in one direction with strength, grace, humor, abundance, and love.

What does a future built on living my one direction look like?

A future built on living my one direction looks like lots of writing. It looks like creating space for others to live their one direction as I live mine. I looks like caring for my body and mind. I looks like seeing more live music. It looks like dancing. It looks like travel and great food. It looks like making new friends and spending more time with the friends I have. It looks like caring for family. It looks like successfully and gracefully completing my current goals. It looks like creating new goals and fiercely and beautifully crushing them.

https://kitt.global/march-1-the-one-direction-mark-nepo-the-book-of-awakening/