AUTHOR
I’ve begun volunteering at a local library. Up the steep stairs of an old Greek Revival-style house, artist studios share space with this small, independent lending library focused on women’s history. It drew my attention the very first evening I climbed those stairs and looked around. I’d gone out exploring on one of our city’s... Continue Reading →
I could have driven to the coffee shop. I'd have stayed warmer and drier. But that wasn't the point. The point was that it was time for a walk. So, inside heavy wool coat, hat, scarf, and mittens, I set out on foot into the swirl of damp snowflakes. They stuck everywhere: on my nose,... Continue Reading →
In "Quietness" the Sufi mystic poet Rumi speaks of taking an axe to one's prison wall and walking out "like someone suddenly born into color" (trans. by Coleman Barks). It's left me thinking of how many prisons humans build - both literal and metaphorical - and how often they do not serve the purposes of... Continue Reading →
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTE2llSOjtI There are many reasons we have difficulty talking about mental illness. Those silences have shaped my new novel, Suddenly Color: A Sacred Grounds Novel Book 2.
“Many of us seem low on energy,” began my church's newsletter article. “The past several years have taken a toll,” the article said. I paused. The stresses and strains of recent years may go without saying, but I feel glad whenever someone does say how strange and exhausting life can still feel. I saw a recent article... Continue Reading →
What do you do that keeps you sane? I’m guessing that a lot of us have things we do that would appear impractical and odd to anyone who observed us doing them (if we actually let anyone observe us doing them). They’d count as silliness were it not for one factor: the good they do... Continue Reading →
Callie J. Smith 