Considering Writing in the Constellation of One’s Life

Celebrating Shifts in Priorities 

By Dixie K. Keyes

When I was ten, I wrote a poetry collection with the title of “Me, Myself, and I.” My mother, for some reason, became quite excited about this and hired our next-door neighbor, an ambitious author, Mrs. Self (yes, that was her real name), to type them up, which in that time, meant using a manual typewriter. I think my mother wanted to send them off to a publishing company, but I don’t know that she ever did. Yet, what that experience provided me was two adults who believed in a talent I seemed to have. They actually read and cared about my creative thoughts and hoped that the public might also want to read it. 

Although my self-esteem was limited in many other areas, it never felt that way when I wrote. I was co-editor of both the newspaper and yearbook in high school, and continued writing poetry and short stories for my own enjoyment. That led me to a 14-year career as a high school English teacher, then a 20-year career in higher education preparing middle school teachers. 

Now, given this lovely opportunity to reflect on growth and understandings with the “10” theme in mind, the notion of constellations came to me based on some writing and thinking I did in my dissertation days (see “Constellation of an Educator’s Life” graphic). The constellations of our lives–our “luminary star,” or guiding star, as well as the other stars of different shapes and sizes (that may represent our life priorities)–change as years go by. Mine certainly has. 

At ten, my luminary was most likely self-expression and experimenting with finding my identity. In high school, my luminary was probably finding a place for my talent and making sense of it in the context of working with others. As an English teacher, my luminary was my classroom where I watched students explore, struggle, and discover themselves in the context of writing. Finally, in my space as a professor of education, my luminary early on was researching and publishing while developing courses in writing pedagogy. At the 20-year mark now, my luminary has shifted back to me, similar to when I was 10, using writing for self-expression. Ambition for publication has faded, yet I still yearn for community around writing. 

I teach yoga and meditation at a local wellness center, and since 2020, I’ve facilitated seven different “yoga and writing workshops” (see the second constellation image I completed for my “now”). These 6-8 weeklong events used movement, self-reflection, and stillness to connect participants to self-expression, ideas and creativity they can share through writing. One of the themes of our workshops was “I AM: Finding the Joys of Journals Past,” and we all dug through closets and drawers for journals, scrapbooks, and photo albums looking for striking photos as poetry inspiration or for journal entries we could remix (see photos below). Another time, we all read an anthology by Roland Merullo (one of my favorite authors), Moments of Grace and Beauty: Forty Stories of Kindness, Courage, and Generosity in a Troubled World, and for our final gathering, Roland joined us via ZOOM and spoke to us about his journey as a writer. 

I think a main insight I’m attempting to share here is that consistent visitations to our past experiences not only show us where we’ve arrived as writers and thinkers but also where we may be headed. To me, this self-reflection is an ethical act. What might the direction we are headed mean? What changes in life can provide meaning and inspiration, in this case through writing? The constellation method offers the chance to think of how your constellation has rearranged itself over the years, or perhaps asks you how you might reshape the priorities or stars in your constellation to prioritize writing in different ways. Maybe–which is the case with my recently revised constellation–I’m content with the shift I’ve seen. Joy comes to mind. Joy in the space of who I am. 

Try using the constellation graphic in whatever way you choose as a tool to reflect on writing in the context of your life. I’m imagining it may provide some student groups a pathway to consider writing in their lives.  

---

Dixie Keyes is a professor of education at Arkansas State University where she teaches undergraduate pedagogy and literacy courses and graduate reading courses. Throughout her almost 34 years as an educator, she has published peer-reviewed research regarding teacher curriculum-making, teacher education, critical literacy, and the complexities of early-career teachers. She co-published a blog post on Ethical ELA in 2021 that featured Jessica Wiley’s vignette of a writing classroom (see ”Spaces for Writing, Thinking, and Becoming by Dixie Keyes and Jessica Wiley”). Since then, Jessica has published her own book, Poetic Expressions: Words of Encouragement to Get You Through.

Below: Two photos describing writing workshop theme and writing.

Below: The “Constellation of an Educator’s Life” template and Dixie’s completed one from 2025.