To Live Out Loud

[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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We are here to live out loud.
Emile Zola

I used to sing at the top of my lungs as a child.

I would swing and sing at the small park in my neighborhood. I would sing alone in broad daylight. I would sing for hours. I would sing from the place in my soul that was filled with my song. I would kick harder, swing higher, sing louder. Kick harder, swing higher, sing louder. Kick harder, swing higher, and sing louder. That is where I learned to live out loud. Those moments are what living out loud means.

I believe we can all live out loud.

When we sing our song. When we sing just to sing, not necessarily to be heard but to feel the song. When we are loud and free from the judgement of self and others. When our key and pitch are perfect because they are our own. When the words and melody are the music of our heart; before we forget, or critique, or silence, or become too busy or scared.

Our song does not have to be a musical song.

We each have a song. Our work. Our project. Our calling. Our right track. Everyone’s song is unique. The challenge is to silence the naysayers and small minds and those that don’t hear their song. Maybe singing your song can awaken something in them. Quiet the daily noise. Summons the inner strength that sometimes dwindles and withers and questions. Invite in wisdom and stand on the shoulders of others. Listen to the songs of quiet moments. Listen to the songs of your success and fulfillment. Listen to the songs of minutes and hours and days and years that fly. That is your song.

Keep singing.

I can’t stress this enough. When we feel our song doesn’t matter. Keep singing. When we think that no one is listening. Keep singing. When we feel other people sing it better. Keep singing. When we want to quit. Keep singing. When silence is deafening. Keep singing. When we don’t have time. Keep singing. Make it through those moments, even if those moments stretch into years. Keep singing. The world needs our song. Be brave enough to live out load.