Weekly Wide-Awake: Here Is The Beltline II

[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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Weekly Wide-Awake: Here Is The Beltline II

After a few weeks of writing about art on the Beltline several things have become clear. My first realization is that art happens all around the Beltline. I thought that before — having spent a year exploring — but now I know it for sure. Beltline art is as diverse — murals, sculpture, statues — as the people who enjoy it. Another thought I have is that my paying attention skills have been strengthened by taking the time to see and reflect. I notice myself noticing more, and telling about it more, now. Setting the intention to see makes seeing possible. Most importantly, I am seeing more beauty in this incredibly hard world. The beauty of weathered railroad iron. The strength found in repurposing. The reflection of stainless steel. All of it decorates the first week of spring.

A Note on my Atlanta Beltline Writing Project

I am practicing paying attention. I am practicing noticing beauty. I am practicing getting in touch with my artist self. I am practicing connecting with the outdoors. I am practicing my inner Mary Oliver. I live in Atlanta, “the city in a forest.” I live on the Atlanta Beltline, an interurban trail that graces the city. The Beltline is part arboretum, part art gallery, part park. It connects shops and restaurants and homes with people of all descriptions. I walk on the Beltline 4 or 5 times a week. I have spent the last year appreciating all that it is. I have personally photographed the images I will share. My hope is to write about it — its art, trees, landmarks, etc.— for the next few weeks as spring unfolds.

Weekly Wide-Awake: Here Is The Beltline II