Motherhood & Words

becoming dizzy with blue sky and rustling leaves and swaying trucks as I stand among birch trees, staring straight up

lying in bed at night, listening to the eerie call of loons, back and forth, across the lake

a daytime moon holding watch over a field of newly-plowed hay

Stella’s excitement prior to her first fireworks

the lake at sunset, when the trees on the other side become golden and the rocks underwater bright, and there is no sound except paddles dipping into water

the voice of Vusi Mahlasela

a doe and two fawns stopped ahead of me on my run, their ears and tails twitching as they watch me, before bounding into the forest

a monarch caterpillar making slow work of a wide leaf of milkweed

watching my daughter play in the same sand and swim in the same water in which I played as a child

reading a novel in the daytime

Posted in

Kate

I have been teaching creative writing for almost twenty years. Reading about other women’s lives and experiences has expanded my world. To be able to walk in someone else’s shoes, whether it’s for a moment or an hour or a few days, is an incredible gift, providing me with insight into the human experience. It takes courage to write your truths, especially if it doesn’t seem as though anyone cares, as though anyone is listening. Let me tell you: your stories matter, I’m listening, and I’m here to help you find the heart of those truths, to get them down on the page, to craft them, and to send them out into the world. Together, we will change the world, one story at a time.

2 Comments

  1. Lill on July 12, 2007 at 9:25 pm

    This is inspiring. I need to make a list of my own. Thank you for writing it and sharing.

    Shine On,
    Lill



  2. kate on July 14, 2007 at 4:17 pm

    thanks, lill.