Finding My Voice to Satisfy My Passions

As a youth I would lay sprawled on my bed writing my thoughts. I collected inspiration in a spiral notebook, copied poems from books, ripped inspirational quotes from magazines, and pilfered clever sayings from friends. Notes passed between classes, cut out handwritten comments from birthday cards, and highlighted phrases that made me smile were glued onto those same lined pages.

The final product reflected my thoughts and emotions of the time. I still have those notebooks. Now, 40 years later, bookstores sell fancy journals that serve the same purpose. Specifically, Keri Smith has published This is Not a Book, F nish Th s B K, and Wreck This Journal. All popular formats prompting the collection of memories.

Over time, my own words filled the margins. Phrases began to rhyme. Sentences grew to stories. Keeping a diary bored me, but writing motivated my imagination. The discovery that writing allowed me a voice that I never had the courage to vocalize empowered me to express my ideas. In the beginning, nobody read my words; but I discovered myself.

Writing provided an avenue for me to find my identity. Years later when I read a quote by E.M Forester, it spoke to me on a personal level.

“How do I know what I think until I see what I say?”

With age, I continued to place pen to paper to record significant events. When others snapped pictures, I described important moments through language. Writing provided a means to capture my passions.

Passion 1: Family

My love of family filled pages with stories and poems of daughters’ births, first steps, successes, challenges, weddings and celebrations. My husband provided constant material for humorous narratives as I learned what works and does not work in a sustainable relationship.

During the worst of times, writing provided an outlet for emotions. Stories of death, loss, illness, and fears provided understanding and acceptance. Each trauma provided strength and endurance and built a can-do attitude.

As stories of personal experiences accumulated, I organized them and filed them away believing they were personal and held no interest to readers. However, years later I discovered humans are more alike than we are different and realized the value of memoirs.

Passion 2: Teaching writing

It should be no surprise that I grew up to be a writing teacher, a career that allowed me to share my passion for words with students.

While managing a family and working fulltime, time for personal writing diminished and professional writing became a priority. Though my passion for creative writing remained, the content became functional to achieve goals, to earn a M.A. in Educational Leadership, National Board Certification, and publish a textbook on strategies to teach writing.

For years writing served functional purposes: to teach, to advocate, to persuade, or to inform.

While working with students in the classroom, I wrote to model the writing process and created resources to aid instruction and develop students’ writing skills. ASCD, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development published Strategies for Teaching Writing providing me an opportunity to share with other educators.

“Writing is the vehicle for communication. In addition to promoting the need for good communication skills, the teaching of the writing process provides opportunities for students to develop clear thinking skills. Writing is also a developmental process that each student can successfully experience at different levels when approached systematically. Based upon this premise, this Action Tool presents the five stages of writing: prewrite, write, revise, edit, and publish in a manner that allows writing to be taught as a process. Strategies for Teaching Writing: An ASCD Action Tool makes writing in the classroom manageable. The tools provide a step-by-step approach to teaching the writing process. The tools include complete how-to-use instructions, suggestions, classroom examples and cross-curricular activities. Using the tools, teachers can grant students time to write, to process their thoughts and develop a way to analyze their thinking using cognitive reasoning instead of impromptu thought. The Action Tool also provide teachers with assessment strategies to assess students’ participation and progress at each stage of the writing process." - From Google Books

Passion 3: Education

As a mentor and trainer of first year teachers, I created informational resources to inform the craft of teaching. The Beginning Teacher’s Calendar emerged as a tool to provide support by offering best practices, inspiration, terminology, and important dates. I gathered research to include in letters and speeches to legislators to testify to the effectiveness of mentoring teachers. As a school administrator, writing required factual reporting and clear communication with stakeholders.

Passion 3: Supporting youth

As a career teacher, 34 years, I have witnessed children experiencing emotional and physical pain. My suspicions, my experiences, my gut, tell me that societal changes impact human’s behaviors. Life is more complicated than when I was a child.

My writing life came full circle when I returned to the classroom for the last four years of my career. Wanting to retire on a high note, time teaching and writing with students provided me the opportunity to combine my true passions.

I realized societies changes had significantly impacted America’s youth and I wanted to scream from the mountaintops. Thus, I began writing Lockers Speak, a book of 145 poems spoken through the voices of students that shared their inner most thoughts.

"Lockers Speak emerged from the voices of these students. Though the individuals are fictional, the events and emotions reflect experiences from the author’s thirty-four-year career in public education. With the desire to use writing as a tool for students to understand themselves and their world, the author prompted students in her classrooms to write about personal adversity. The students became excited to tell their stories, knowing someone was going to listen. Those essays became the catalyst for this text." - From Lockers Speak book cover

Before Lockers Speak was finished, before my last year of teaching ended, my 33-year-old daughter had a life changing stroke. Writing sustained me emotionally as I began recording events, bleeding emotions into a journal in her hospital room where I lived for 43 days. I retired early to support her healing process.

On the first day of teaching until the last, I woke enthusiastic, driven by the belief that youth have the power to change the future, and my career extended beyond the 3R’s as I desired to teach students the art of being fully human. When I retired pride filled my heart knowing I had dedicated my life to a challenging, noble profession.

It’s been three years filled with change. COVID required isolation from normal life which gave me time to create I AM My Best!, a blog that hosts collections of writing on multiple topics. This blog hosts a page on writing strategies, poetry, lessons learned through pain, and humor – lots of humor because laughter adds pleasure to each day and makes each morning bearable.

One page is dedicated to my daughter’s stroke stories. She is a survivor, and it is my goal to inspire others, share strategies for caregivers while reminding readers that at every moment in life we are our best self. I dream of someday turning her experiences into a book to encourage others.

I am passionate about family, teaching, education, and youth. Writing provides a means to support my passions. Readers of my blog, I AM My Best! and followers on digital media find inspiration in my words. Family and friends enjoy the memories. Hundreds of educators express appreciation for the teaching materials shared that improve instruction. Stroke survivors and caretakers repeatedly show gratitude for honest accounts of our personal experiences. My desire is to continue to write to satisfy my passions and connect with supporters.

Recently, Locker’s Speak was published on Amazon. Though has only been on the market a couple days, it is my hope that it will provides adults glimpse into teenagers' minds. I am optimistic the verses will allow teens to hear from others that they are not alone as it shares the everyday, common experiences that provide life joy while challenging survival. Through students’ voices, it reveals the commonalities of life’s experiences.

There was a time I questioned: How can I be a successful writer? What makes me a writer instead of a person who writes. I have learned that a writer is more than a person who places words on paper. A writer must have a purpose; she must fulfill a passion:

Forgetting or ignoring the many lessons about office ergonomics, I slump in a chair and type. “Just get the words on paper,” I chide myself. “The revision comes later.” The times those exact words have been shared with students flash in me mind. When all else fails, write. "Write until your hand seizes from use. Write the last word over until it is so boring your mind forces you to investigate new options.” With that refrain stimulating her fingers, I pressed keys triggering words to appear on the screen. Within the words appear the lessons, inspiration, and stories of life.

Addressing the Memberful/Vocal Challenge allowed me to analyze why I write and share the value of communication. Success in this challenge would provide the opportunity to publish a book and distribute it for free to individuals who have suffered strokes. A subscription to Memberful would provide the means to enrich my blog to address specific audiences. It is a dream to streamline the publication so different audiences can access material of interest through easy member management, and provide a stress-free experience for readers.