Find Your Something

[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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The Well of Ancient Mysteries

To look at it, the well is a small piece of land covered with mango and banyan trees, tropical flowers, and a mural-decorated house surrounded by a 7-Eleven, an empanada food truck, a Metrorail station, and flashy high-rise buildings. A wood sign with the faded words “The Well of Ancient Mysteries” hangs on the property. I knew from the day we moved to Miami there was a story there. I walked by it frequently on my way to the grocery for over a year before I tried to find out about it. I found an article from the Miami Herald. The article tells the story of a sacred space and the man who protects it from development in our rapidly changing neighborhood. In the Herald article, the owner of the property explains the Well of Ancient Mysteries sits on an ancient site that has spiritual significance to the indigenous people of Miami. As a public anthropologist and activist, the owner refuses all offers to buy the property in order for him to protect the site.

Pay Attention

This story asks me to pay attention. Is there anything that means so much to me that I would refuse great wealth in order to dedicate my life to its preservation? Is there a cause so dear that I would build getting involved into my days? At this time when we are forced by circumstance to look inward and consider the things that matter, it reminds me of the responsibility I have to my community: voting, charitable contributions of time, talent, and/or treasure, and even taking care of myself in order to be of service to others.

My Well

The owner of the Well of Ancient Mysteries cares deeply and works daily to honor and protect the well. The well is his something. When I think about our future, caring about something is vital. When I think about the young people in my life and my world, doing something to leave the world better than I found it is critical. When I think about how I spend my hours, doing something every day to create love in the world is truly important. Finding our well, our something, is more important right now than ever.

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