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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The Only Clear Line

The only clear line I draw these days is this: when my religion tries to come between me and my neighbor, I will choose my neighbor … Jesus never commanded me to love my religion
Barbara Brown Taylor, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others
Choosing our neighbors — loving our neighbors — is a clear line for me, too. This line is bigger than any one religion. It is more important than any creed or scripture. It is strong enough to be chanted as a mantra and brought into existence.
I choose my neighbor. I choose my neighbor. I choose my neighbor.
When I write it like that, it feels like a prayer of thanksgiving. Gratitude for choice. Gratitude for neighbors. Gratitude for a soft heart that does not succumb to the pain of the world. Gratitude for a soft heart that does not retreat from the pain of the world. Gratitude for a soft heart that chooses love.
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.