The Wisdom in Blinking

[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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Asleep too long, we need to wake. Awake too long, we need to sleep.
Mark Nepo

What We Learn by Blinking

The Power of Rest

We all need rest. Rest – even for a second, the time it takes to shut our eyes and breathe – can be life sustaining. We rest when we blink. Blinking is permission to regroup and refocus. It is a reminder that constant vigilance and reaction take a toll. It is the period at the end of a sentence. It is the lens in a camera that brings things into focus.

Zing and Blink

There is a certain zing to blinking. A fresh start. A reset. A reboot. A change. The zing of blinking happens in an instant. It is a waking up. It is a parting of the clouds. It is a rolling of the tide. It is a changing of the seasons. It is the blinking of an eye.

Walking Away

Some times we need to walk away. Blinking offers us a choice. It is a take-the-high-road impulse. It is a split second when we think, “Is this worth it?” It is the bird on a shoulder that whispers in your ear, “Seek first to understand rather than be understood.” It is not ego. It is part humility, part judgment, part introspection, part vulnerability, and part grace.

Balance and Flow

Blinking lets us move. We move between the day-to-day and magic, distraction and wonder, sadness and joy, asleep and awake, and stillness and action. It finds space in the middle. It is like a dance in which our thoughts and dreams and aspirations take form and shape and depth in full rhythm and intensity and force.

After Blinking

After blinking, we are changed. The air clears. Pace overcomes urgency. Thoughts are informed. Eyes are lifted. Ears are listening. Hands are open. Hearts are engaged. We walk toward, not away. We are more about building than tearing down. That is the wisdom of blinking.