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.
In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.
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It’s easy to invent a Life

It’s easy to invent a Life —/ God does it — every Day —/ Creation — but the Gambol/ Of His Authority —// It’s easy to efface it —/ The thrifty Deity/ Could scare afford Eternity/ To Spontaneity —// The Perished Patterns murmur —/ But His Perturbless Plan/ Proceed — inserting Here — a Sun —/ There — leaving out a Man —
Emily Dickinson
Make light of Life’s invention. We have the power in our hands. Create. Build. Craft. Imagine. Weave. Enjoy all twists and turns, knots and pulls, nips and tucks, elastic and rigid, hard and soft. Write your story. Define your dreams.
My Life would be part ballerina, part scientist, part yogi, part chef, part stand up comedian. Life would define humor and grace, and also solve big problems. Life would understand the lessons of savoring, balance, forgiveness, stillness, and breath. Life would consider all children her children, and all people who are elderly her grandparents. Life would spend vast amount of time outdoors in nature and with art of all kinds. Life would know wonder there.
About Katie

From Louisville. Live in Atlanta. Curious by nature. Researcher by education. Writer by practice. Grateful heart by desire.
Buy the Book!
The Stage Is On Fire, a memoir about hope and change, reasons for voyaging, and dreams burning down can be purchased on Amazon.