In February, I found my breath again. It never left. It always was and has been the very thing that sustains me. But, in January, I forgot how to really breathe. I forgot to release with each exhale. My body and mind fell out of sync. I believe it was because I was trying to [...]
Author: baileyfred
I have a heart for people, I drink way too much coffee, and I am a big believer in the power of writing. I am passionate about empowering others to use their voice and to share their stories. I believe it can take great courage to stop, reflect, and write. There is nothing easy about writing but there is always something freeing about it. I write to express myself and to hopefully encourage someone else to do the same along the way. So friends, write with me. Let's be a community that courageously shares our stories and thoughts to learn from one another— because after all, life is a life of learning.
January’s Words
In January, I remembered why the winter trees lose their leaves. They need space to grieve, before they blossom and bloom anew. The leaves must fall. The colors must fade. At times, we need to be acquainted with the grey. If we don’t sit in the grey, we wouldn’t appreciate when little buds of [...]
Remember Compilation
When I was trying to determine the next prompt to share with people, I was seeking to find a word that would feel open-ended and a word that could invoke a potentially healing writing process. When I thought about the word healing, the word remember came to my mind. The word remember and the very [...]
Disruption
When I think of this year, I think of disruption. Much has been disrupted. In both good ways and in really hard and harmful ways. Our time was seemingly disrupted. Our schedules. Our pride. Our ignorance. Our busy. Our ways of gathering. Our ways of being. Our ways of teaching. Our ways of celebrating. Our [...]
Dance With Them
Written right after I got my tree tattoo in August. The trees and the moon danced together tonight. They created silhouettes and and shadows of praise. Each silhouette and shadow a form of darkness that brings glory to the bit of light shining just enough. What a glorious sight to see darkness being swept into [...]
“Hope” is the Untouchable – That Touches Us
Written at the December Red Clay Writing Conference. Inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem "Hope" is a Thing With Feathers. Hope is one of those words I have been thinking on a lot lately. I have recognized that my hope cannot be contingent upon circumstances, but instead on the unseen. “hope” is the untouchable - that [...]
13 Ways of Looking at the Teacher
June of 2020 - Responding to the prompt: Using William Carlos Williams' 13 Ways of Looking at Blackbird as your model/frame/template, write a 13 stanza poem offering your 13 ways of looking at your first year of teaching Often the student Learning the most Is the teacher Learning their students The teacher must Pay attention [...]
Writing Still Heals
Written August 29th, 2020 after a month of pre-planning for a school year none of us could even fully plan and prepare for. I didn't have the words I wanted to say, but I knew I needed to write anyways. All week long I have had this craving to write. An energy building up inside [...]
Youth At The Table
A piece I wrote in June of 2020 as I was reflecting on all my first year of teaching taught me. Our youth get left out of so many conversations. We forget to see them in their full humanity - in their brilliance and resilience. This piece is one I continue to come back to [...]
New Ground
Written in May of 2020- playing around with narrating from a voice that is not my own. But, this is a piece I resonate deeply even though I was not seeking to write my own experience when I wrote this. I am breaking new ground. New ground of understanding how I have always felt that [...]
