Storytelling has been a part of human social evolution as long as we've had words, and with the magic of written languages we then spread our ability to share stories well beyond what we might hear around the campfire in our own communities. Opportunities for bringing my favorite writing and authors to people who might not have encountered them yet are always exciting to me, and Writing Heights Writers Association is offering an online class, Beyond Human, this coming Saturday where i'll use excerpts from some of these books as examples for participants to broaden our own perceptive abilities.

As American Catholic mystic Thomas Berry noted: "Everything has its own voice." While writing gave people the ability to spread our stories and perspectives across cultures and times, it also led us away from recognizing the stories of anything beyond our human selves. The authors i've chosen for Saturday's class include both fiction and nonfiction writers who show us ideas, as well as ways, for dancing with our beyond-human planetary cohabitants. The distance that's been created over time is not inevitable or a one-way trajectory. Writers--and readers--can circle back around, like Earth's seasons, toward rediscovery.

Whether you write for publication or scribble poetry for your own eyes only, whether you strictly read novels or accompany adventurous authors through their real-life curiosities and insights, you are invited to explore these writings with us. Register at Writing Heights for this chance to let your imagination lead you and to let the energy of others lift you. We'll have time to hear only a limited number of excerpts, so i'm also excited to share a list of further recommended readings with everyone who signs up. Thomas Berry maintained his excitement about the positive possibilities for humanity within rebalanced connections--and so can we.