In the Likeness of Everything

[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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In the Likeness of Everything

Everything in the Universe is interconnected. Within each it is reflected. – Lourdes Pita

Everywhere I have lived, and I have lived all over the United States, I have found places to which I am drawn.

An outdoor space to which I return again and again: sanctuaries of varied descriptions. From Nooksack Falls in the Cascade Mountains, to Lady Bird Lake Trail on the Colorado River, to Great Falls Park on the Potomac River, to Friendship Park along the Ohio River, to Key Biscayne on the Atlantic Ocean, peace flows freely in those places.

These are not the only special places I know, but they are particularly meaningful.

I found these treasures early in my time when living in each locale. They connected me to my strength as I ran and hiked along the trails and shores. I return when I visit. I take friends when they visit. Still living in Miami, I run at my slow pace on Key Biscayne every weekend.

These places, as different as they are, have taught me many lessons.

They have taught me the importance of open arms, as they have welcomed me when I have felt like a stranger. They have taught me about being alive to my senses – all the tastes, smells, sounds, and feels. They have taught me reverence for beauty of all descriptions. They have taught me strength as I train my body on their paths. They have taught me oneness with people around me as I connect with others along the way. They have taught me awareness of all that is deep inside me, as minutes pass to hours in their presence. They have taught me safety, as they are places to which I return again, and again without fear. They are constants in the ever-changing landscape of my life.