Sherrill A. Knezel - Heart Speak

Over the past forty years, Ive had the joy of seeing all ten of my books translated into languages I dont read or speak. Whenever a publisher tells me a new translation is in the works, I respond with the same lame joke, whose sole virtue is that its on me: Thats wonderful! But I still hope we can find someone to translate the book into English.

Now that Ive had the good fortune of working with Sherrill Knezelwhos a gifted artist and a public school teacher, which makes her one of my culture heroesI realize that I should have been asking for a visual translation all along! But this one was worth waiting for. Im very excited about the way Sherrill has used her gifts of art and insight to interpret and express some of the key ideas in Let Your Life Speak.

Clearly, images speak to a wider range of people than words alone and are helpful even to word people like me. Think of traffic signs that feature an upturned palm that clearly says, Stop! or a snake-like line that says, Caution, sharp turns ahead! Images incarnate words, making them not only more accessible but more actionable as well. Images instantly deliver a message: Heres something you need to know to negotiate the road youre on.

The road traveled by Let Your Life Speak is now relatively long, as such things go. Now in its early twenties, the book has spoken to readers from several generations. I smiled when I learned that Sherrill found the book in her husbands grandmothers library. I receive a quiet flow of notes from middle-aged people telling me how glad they are that a parent or grandparent urged them to read the book. I also hear from recent high school or college grads, saying that the book came to them as a course assignment or as a graduation present.

Its a special delight to hear full circle stories like one I read a month or two ago: In 2002, I gave this book to my grandson when he got out of college. Now hes 40, and has an 18-year-old son, my great grandson. My son gave the book to his son for high school graduation, and now were talking about it together. Stories like that warm my heart, even though they make me feel very old!

With the publication of Sherrill Knezels graphic translation, which may well speak to an even younger set, I aim to live long enough to get a note like this from someone who turned twelve in 2022: My sixth-grade teacher used this book in class, and Im still thinking about some of the things we talked about back then.

My gratitude goes to the hundreds of thousands of readers who have used the book to help them hear their own lives speak. They have encouraged me to keep listening to my life, a practice that never fails me if I have the patience to listen long enough.

My gratitude also goes to Sherrill Knezel who had the idea for this translation. Its been a joy to work with her and to have my eyes opened to the many ways images can help us speak and listen. I have every reason to believe that you, the reader, will have the same experience.

This book is meant to journey alongside Parker J. Palmers book Let Your Life Speakto uplift and amplify Parkers work in a new way and provide a creative visual access point to the book that has been a steadfast companion to me through the years.

When I was a young parent and new teacher, my husbands grandmother Janet gave me one of Parkers earlier books The Courage to Teach. I devoured it. Janet and I had many conversations in her small kitchen over tea discussing the themes and threads in the book. Janet was insatiably curious and always had piles of books for us to talk about when I visited. When she passed, I inherited several of these treasured booksLet Your Life Speak being one of them. As I started reading, it took only a few pages, with pencil in hand, to strongly sense that I would read and reread Let Your Life Speak many times in the coming years.

I couldnt have known how true that would be. As I started following Parkers work and reading more of his books, I found myself returning to Let Your Life Speak whenever I was feeling unmoored and in need of grounding or needed to be reminded of the importance of stillness and inner work. I kept it close at hand as I started a daily drawing and meditation practice of illustrating an inspiring or spiritual quote in the predawn hours while savoring that first cup of cinnamon coffee.

Parkers words found their way into my first collection of morning drawings. So when I learned of the Growing Edge Retreats he co-led with Carrie Newcomer, I knew I would apply as a fiftieth birthday present to myself-and hope like heck I would get accepted! And I did!

Since drawing is how I listen, process, and make meaning, I sketch-noted the entire transformative and soul-filled weekend in March 2019. Somewhere among the powerful circle conversations, poetry readings, and collaborative songwriting, an idea took root: Parker and I are going to write a book together.

After returning home from the weekend retreat, the idea kept tugging at my heart, so I reached out to Parker to pitch my ideaI asked permission to create a visual interpretation of seventy-plus passages from Let Your Life Speakthe only effort on his part would be to say yes. To my delight, he did, and to my even bigger delight, we began meeting virtually as I worked on the images and got further into the process of publishing. Getting to know Parkerhis generosity, wisdom, and humorhas been a true gift of writing this book.

I find immense joy in gathering inspiring words and laying them down interpreted as simple and graceful lines, shapes, and spaces that help me make sense of the world. I also am completely in love with beautiful questions that open worlds within and help us speak our best selves into being. I like to think of this book as a conversation with Parker and myself spoken through images, personal reflections, and questions that invite you to sit with them, reflect, and hopefully visit again and again. The words placed within the images on the left-hand pages are Parkers. The words on the right-hand pages are my musings and questions in response.