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.
Enter your email here to receive Weekly Wide-Awake
The Orchard

We moved to Atlanta, Georgia in April of 2021. I immediately started walking on the Atlanta Beltline, a trail on a former railway line that connects parts of the city. I primarily walk on the Eastside trail that connects my home to Piedmont Park, the city’s largest park. There is a peach orchard in the park. I have been documenting the peaches with my camera the last few months. The journey into the park takes me to a quiet place. I like to think the orchard is the heart of the park. No matter how noisy and desperate and scared my brain feels as I walk into the park, by the time I reach the orchard I arrive somewhere between awestruck and grateful and joyful. I have been blessed to see the leaves become blossoms become fruit in perfect time. I have been blessed to experience the beauty of peaches growing and ripening. I have been blessed to share the orchard with friends and family. Each orchard visit is a separate gift somehow always different yet always the same. The more I pay attention to the orchard, the more I pay attention to life in general. The more I pay attention to the orchard, the more connected to my breath I remain. The more I pay attention to the orchard, the more I understand the sacred connection between creativity and wide-awakeness. The more I pay attention to the orchard, the more I understand life’s falling apart and coming together.
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.