Loose Leaf Notes

– The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on May 28, 2015.

Floyd Folks: Collective Wisdom from a (One Stoplight) Mountain Community is a new 151 page book published by Free Range Press in Willis. The press is the creation of Tommy Bailey and so is the book, a collection of stories about love, loss and triumph from eighteen local writers.

Bailey, who works in e-commerce marketing and is the father of two daughters, was inspired by a book on optimism that he saw in his doctor’s office in Roanoke.  That book, Optimism: Cultivating the Magic Quality that Can Extend Your Lifespan, Boost Your Energy, and Make You Happy Now, features thoughts on optimism from famous people of the past and present.  It includes an essay by his doctor, Dr. Janine Talty, who has been using integrative medicine to treat Lyme patients and others with chronic illnesses for more than decade.

While reading Optimism, Bailey felt that his friends and neighbors in Floyd would have something unique to share about meaningful living and how their love of Floyd’s rural nature fits in with that. He put out the word for the project last fall and broadened the topic, asking writers to talk about what moves them, how they see the world, how they measure a successful or happy life and what life lessons have they learned.

“This book is amazing.  It’s totally exceeded any expectations I had,” said Bailey, author of The Appalachian Trail Step by Step, a book about preparing to hike the 2,000+ mile trail that Bailey finished over time.  He described the stories as “very moving and heartfelt” and, because only 18 of the hopeful 30 writers met the deadline, he spoke about the possibility of extending the project into a second volume.

The collection begins with an essay by Cassie Wilson titled Sometimes I Struggle with Reality and is followed by Jon Beegle’s I Can See, an uplifting love story about how he met his wife Dana.  Deborah Harris wrote about her love for a special horse named Nozhpni.  Jayn Avery, a potter and environmentalist with a degree in rural sociology, wrote about her collage days, being “the only girl in a major seemingly for boys,” and how she found her deeper calling, working with clay.

Bob Grubel’s story focuses on how trust and acceptance has sustained him throughout his life, attending a Quaker School, becoming a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War, living in community, caretaking a farm and volunteering with hospice.

Jessica Talley shared a moving account of navigating through her son Sekai’s diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis and his recent liver and lung transplant.   Recalling that Sekai’s initial medical team gave little hope that her son would experience a normal healthy life, she made a choice.  “I was going to choose to succumb to the fear of this disease and spend my life hating it, resenting the loss of a healthy life that my baby was entitled to and worrying constantly about when it would claim him, or I would make another choice.  I could choose to love instead.  I could open my heart to the gift that this experience could bring if I was willing to ignore the story that fear would tell.  I could love him every moment of every day and choose to celebrate each moment I have with him,” she wrote.

“I had wanted to write about my art; why I feel the need to create, what images stir my soul.  I just found I couldn’t tell about my art without explaining my relationship with the Creative Spirit and the power of positive thinking,” wrote artist Patricia Robin Woodruff in Being a Creator.

Richard Telling’s Little House of a Prayer, is written from a foundation of Christian faith and family.  “One of the primary joys has been the raising of our five children on a small farm, instilling in them the virtues of honesty, community and hard work, all the while enjoying the beauty of a fog drenched sun rising over the barn on a still summer morning.”

Robert Foote wrote about beauty as a spiritual practice and as an antidote for loneliness: “Beauty, in other words, is a sweet, powerful force. Artists train themselves to be conduits for this flow.  And in a deeper sense, each of us is an artist, whether we’re preparing a wholesome meal and setting it on the table for friends, or we’re planting flowers and shrubs along the driveway, or simply because we’re privileged to witness the unspeakable beauty of this day.”

Colleen Redman (this writer) wrote about how living simply and locally brings a richness that money can’t buy, in spite of managing a long-time health challenge.  “These days I’m not trying to change or better myself.  I’m just trying to understand what’s already there. I realize that the best thing I can do for the world is to be myself.  If I can be myself, keep my conscience clear and respect the authority of my inner voice, I know the rest will fall into place, and that makes me happy.”

Other contributors who shared their personal stories in the book are David Grimsley, who wrote about Creating a Mindful Culture, Thais Abernethy in a piece title Now, Luke Staengl on Getting to Know our Shadow and Fred First on To Know Our Place.  The title of Tara Daystar’s contribution is Dar a Luz (Give Birth) and the closing story, by local herbalist, rites of passage ceremonialist and mother of five sons Katherine Chantal, is appropriately titled A Story’s Not Over Until it is Over and Even Then it’s Not Over!  Chantal shared that mothering has been the platform for the majority of growth in her life.

Even Bailey contributes to the collection.  In a piece called Right Focus, he recounts his experience on a ten-day silent meditation retreat.  “I could tell you how it got a lot worse before it got better, but I want to focus on the breakthrough… The good news is, the more I practiced, the easier it got,” he wrote.

Bailey, who blogs at treestonevillage.com, sums up his intention in putting the collection together in the book’s introduction, “I was inspired to lead this project to help raise consciousness and to affect people in a positive way.  My aspiration is that at least one of the stories will move you in a positive direction.”

Floyd Folks: Collective Wisdom from a (One Stoplight) Mountain Community can be purchased at amazon.com as a hardcopy ($9.99) or an ebook, and also in local shops.  All book proceeds after printing expenses will go directly to support Floyd organizations, such as SustainFloyd, The Floyd Humane Society and the Floyd County Lyme Disease Support Network.  A meet-the-writers book launch is scheduled for June 6^th (7:00 p.m.) at the Floyd Country Store, where books will be available for purchase.