I’ve spent three decades as a high school arts and movement educator.

Moving into my next act, I want to connect with adults looking to find their inner child, challenge assumptions about age, and embrace the next version of themselves. We’re not too old and it’s not too late to dive into uncharted territory.

I speak. I coach. I teach. I sing. I flip whenever I can.

Let’s work together to explore the possibilities.

Bring Stacey to your organization

How I Leaned Into Writing

As a quiet kid in the 1980s, I was always looking to find ways to find my voice and express it.

I’ve always liked writing. Well, not always. My relationship to the written word has been more of a slow unfolding over the course of my lifetime.

I kept a childhood diary (under tiny lock and key) which held a few random musings about love and heartbreak. In college, letter writing and mix tapes (the precursor to texting and Facetime) bridged long-distance romance. Letter writing was an important connection between my dad and I. It provided a way for us to communicate when we struggled to talk to each other.

I learned I was more comfortable scribing than talking about things. Taking the time to reflect, consider, and edit my thoughts felt like a more accurate representation of how I felt. I never really imagined I’d become an author “for real,” but people always said I was good at written expression, so my confidence slowly enabled me to write some more about my world.

Writing wasn’t the focus of my undergraduate education, since my time was filled with rehearsals and performance. But the more papers I wrote, the more I realized I had a knack for it. In grad school, through academic writing, I learned the power of words and the importance of choosing the right ones to get your point across.

As a working mom, I dabbled in my first blog called The Second Half under the name STdancermom. My entries were limited by time, but whenever I was inspired I opened a document clicked away. At some point, when being a working parent became too all-consuming, that blog started collecting dust. But, that blog planted the seed for what eventually grew into this website, which I started during the pandemic of 2020. I wanted a place to collect and cultivate all the things that were swirling around my headspace. (Thus, the name.)

Now, as an empty nester near the tail end of her first career, I create time to sit down and write. It helps me to unravel and express the thoughts that I have trouble saying out loud. I love the process of the brain dumping, then refining the raw materials into gemstones. I stop and reflect, research and formulate clearer thoughts. My computer keyboard has become the best confidante and source for understanding my adult self.

Seedlings of a writer

I hit more of a stride when I started to write for the purpose of publishing. I have a great developmental editor who has taught me a thing or two about the process. That was jump-started in 2016, when one of my students got me thinking about the author bandwagon.

In one of our many discussions about life and sharing my experience as an educational tool, she asked me if I had ever thought of writing a memoir. I had not, but her question made me think. From that moment forward, I started to chronicle over 20 years of my teaching career, how I got there, and what I’ve learned from it all. The title is Dances With Tigers and is a work-in-progress that I will someday publish as my teaching memoir. I was actually getting ready to move forward on publication in the summer of 2020, but other events got in the way.

Making words matter

In late May 2020, amidst that frightful pandemic lockdown we were all experiencing, a man named George Floyd was murdered by arresting officers, sparking public outrage. It seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in a long legacy of struggle between many in the police community and people of color. In conversations with a friend who was imminently shaken by the news, she asked me if I had ever written my own play. I had not, but this made me think.

I presented a virtual production of the work with Spring Valley High School’s Thespian Troupe 721 in December 2020, and moved forward with self-publishing the play on Amazon. The show is available for licensing with Leicester Bay Theatricals.

Paying tribute

In September 2020, my mom passed after a long battle with peritoneal cancer. I was fortunate to be visiting her down in Houston, where she lived, in the last week of her life. That opportunity gave me one last chance to sit by her side and share a long list of things that I had learned from her in my 48 years as her daughter. I interviewed her about as many memories as she could think of while she was able.

Clicking at my keyboard, I raced to capture as much of her words as I could, and I shared with her that I might someday write a memoir about her. She liked that idea.

The memoir is a tapestry of Mom’s stories, the lessons that I learned from her, and looking back to being raised by a woman of such grace, integrity, intelligence and kindness. We remember our family and how they impacted our lives throughout the years. Writing this book was my way of processing the abyss of grief by connecting to our pasts – individually and collectively.

Recording words

I’ve also created three podcast projects.

• A Moment of Mindful Meditation (June 2020), which now features 14 different meditations that I was inspired to share. You can find it on Spotify. I’ve been told it is very calming and helpful for people who need to unravel a bit.
• Changed for the Better: the power of arts in education (February 2022), features interviews with my former students who have since transitioned into adulthood. Guests answer ten questions that reflect on who they were in high school and the lessons they took with them from my classroom to become who they are now. The audio version is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Watch the full episodes on my YouTube channel.
• Conversations With The Geriatric Gymnast (October 2022), where I talk to my adult flippy friends about our gymnastics experience at “a certain age.” Watch my class vlogs and a bunch of shorts on my YouTube channel. You’ll see my flops, fails and eventual successes all over the gym!

In any of my writing projects, whether a published book, a podcast or a blog post, my goal is to explore the common refrains that we all share through a lens of personal reflection. Through sharing stories, I hope to make a positive impact on others, bring us closer together in a world that seems so divided, and inspire others to become even better versions of themselves.

Enjoy the blog, listen to the podcasts, and pick up one of the books on Amazon. Leave kind comments, reach out, and please subscribe to be notified whenever something tumbles out of my headspace.