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Featured Writer
Barbara Walker
Barbara, 45, was born in Iowa. She, her parents and her seven siblings moved to Oregon in 1972. She is a single mom to Nathan (25), Kyle (24), and Hailey (7). Barbara loves the outdoors, photography, and literature. She was an Early Childhood Specialist for 21 years before everything changed due to a severe illness. Barbara participated in her first Write Around Portland workshop for adults living on a low income or with a disability this summer.
Barbara is pictured, right, with her daughter Hailey. Her writing and an interview with her about writing in community follow.
The Sweetest Thing
by Barbara Walker
Her hair blonde, it flows like the waves in the sea; highlights run through it like waterfalls; it shines and glistens in the summer sun. Her beauty pure and untouched, the sweetest thing is her vibrant innocence.
She tilts her head to the side, as if she’s already asked the oh-so-important question. Hello Mommy, she says, her smile inquisitive, she leans into me with her tiny frame, and in a quiet voice says, Mommy don’t get mad or interrupt, but…, she pauses to think, her liquid blue eyes meet mine, do you think we could go for a bike ride today? I already knew the answer before it left my lips (she had me at hello), Yes, I suppose we can, I answer. She smiles a bright and beautiful thank you, then rushes off to prepare for her new and carefully planned adventure...
© Barbara Walker & Write Around Portland
Interview with Featured Writer Barbara Walker
How did you get involved with Write Around Portland?
My first grade teacher posted my poem, "The Little Red Balloon” in the hallway at Ockley Green Elementary School. That started a life long love of writing. I always wanted to write. Finding Write Around Portland was a fluke.
I am a poet by heart. As an abuse survivor and someone who is clean after years of addictions, I put my name on the workshop waiting list. I was on the list for quite a while. When I finally received the call that I was in a group, I was ecstatic!
This was your first writing workshop. How was it for you?
I have been through so much I went into a deep depression. My sadness overtook my life, I found it hard to trust and love again. I had lost all my friends and my family. I spiraled down into a darkness I never want to experience again. I felt alone and hopeless.
I had a severe illness that caused me to be hospitalized for over three months with multi-organ failure, septicemia, and coma. Many didn't think I would make it. I went through grueling physical therapy to learn how to walk and talk all over again.
On the first day of the workshop, I was fearful. It was my mom’s gentle nudging that gave me courage to go. When you write, you can soothe the soul and just let everything else go. This workshop was the beginning of me finding myself. I learned to build relationships and trust again.
You wrote in your evaluation that being in the workshop saved your life. Can you talk about what it’s meant to you?
The workshop has meant everything to me. I don’t sit in my bedroom all day. I volunteer for my daughter’s school now. I spend time with friends and family. Hailey, my daughter, and I go for a walk every day. I was literally homebound, now I’m living my life. I don’t know how I would have gotten out of the depression otherwise.
I learned more about myself and grew as a person. My life’s dream is to be a writer. I didn’t have the confidence before Write Around Portland. When you write, people will have good, bad, ugly responses—any response in the world—and it feels so good to know that I can cause that.
Maddy, your volunteer workshop facilitator, mentioned to us that you gave really good feedback to the rest of the group and were really supportive of the other writers. What was it like to give and receive feedback during the workshop?
Feedback was new to me. I felt like it was really important to support writers at whatever level they were at. I realize that giving positive feedback is sometimes hard for all of us. I was going through a life-changing experience and it was great to see that happening for other people as well.
You finished the workshop in August, can you tell me about any lasting impacts the group might have had? Are you still writing?
When I heard that Write Around Portland goes into senior centers, I was inspired. I now read to some senior citizens who live down the street. These ladies can’t read because of their eyesight, and they’re so grateful that I read to them. After the workshop, I also started volunteering with SMART. I can’t work full-time with kids anymore, but I love kids, so I volunteer reading with kids.
I was so inspired by Write Around Portland and I want to pass that forward. I believe the world would be a better place if we all did little things to pass it forward.
You mentioned spending more time with your daughter now. Does she write?
Hailey [pictured above with Barbara] was learning to write at the same time I was in the workshop. She wrote her first blog post because she was inspired by me. I hope she finds the acceptance I did through Write Around Portland.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about you or about Write Around Portland?
I would love to write an autobiography, novels and children stories. What I have gone through in my life has value.
I think about the people who make donations to make this possible. It’s so huge, even though it may feel so small to just make a gift. I think you can’t know what a difference it makes.
"I hadn’t been able to write as much as I had previous to my accident, so it’s been very good to be with Write Around Portland. Very good."
--Brandon Scarth
Featured Writer
Barbara Walker