In A High-Spirited Woman the author reaches into the personal, highly complex, and life-defining moments that shine inwardly toward many of life's naked truths. Her poems reflect lifelong involvement with what are often confounding emotional responses to observing life's realities. For her those realities have always included not only the physical world but the parallel reality of the heart, mind, and soul with its own unique imprint. Within that mindset and model of looking at the world, Meredith soon recognized that the outer and inner worlds impact and alter each other, significantly affecting the individual throughout life. Because she values each person as an individual self-driven by dignity and dreams that matter, very early on meaningful involvement with those around her became critical to her understanding of herself and others and remains so. The author's poetry reveals the emotional responses that come from many kinds of loss, things wished for but not having as well as acceptance of life's wonderful gifts, some now gone from life, but just as important as they once were. Each person's life experience has many mirrors, both from within and without. A High-Spirited Woman respects those mirrors, showing us who we were, who we are, and if we're lucky, perhaps a glimpse of what's next.
About the Author: The author's lifelong natural love of writing and other creative expression started early, competing in local contests, as editor of her high school paper, and during college as a creative writer. A health career followed, managing Statewide medical review, and later as manager of physical rehabilitation programs, as well as in addictions and therapeutic mental health programs. Always ready to meet emerging challenges, she spearheaded grants and developed specialty programs to advance consumer access to quality health care services. A strong proactive drive to serve others achieve the best possible outcomes, especially those who are underserved and at risk in the community continued to passionately guide her work as a helping professional and community member. A High-Spirited Woman is her first published poetry collection. It reflects her eclectic background and captures her compassionate spirit with the Universal audience. An enlightened colleague once recognized that, regardless of the job or its title, she works from inspiration. As a committed professional, she has been inspired by the courageous people around her who have allowed her the privilege of entering into their physical and emotional pain as they struggled to find stability and a new beginning in what is often for the recovering addict a hostile, unforgiving world. She has walked beside them in the difficult journey as they fought to rebuild their life in the midst of great personal losses, uncertainty, including lost faith in themselves. These journeys opened a spiritual dimension pathway of enlightened compassion to understand the desperation of those who suffer life tragedies. Persons beginning recovery and treatment believe there is no hope to succeed because they know they have lost so much and that burden often overwhelms them. Encouraging them in their faithful journey to reclaim their life became a natural and forever priority and humbling experience. A graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and psychology she received her Master's from the School of Social Work, University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. She values greatly the artistic efforts of cultural expression in its many categories and treasures those who have shared their lives with her. She has lived and worked throughout the United States and makes her home in the truly enchanted land of New Mexico.