Meet Amber Lea Starfire
The mission of Writing Through Life is to empower you to access your inner wisdom and creativity, make meaning of life’s events, and bring your stories to life through the powerful act of writing.
Some of The Things I Do & Have Done
- Editor & Publisher, The Writer’s Eye Magazine
- Writer, fiction, nonfiction & poetry
- Freelance Editor
- Curriculum Development, Training & Teaching: Journaling, Writing, & Photoshop
- Author, Week by Week: A Year’s Worth of Journaling Prompts & Meditations
- Author, XPress It: A Step-by-Step Guide to QuarkXPress 3.0, a college textbook, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1992
Education
- MFA Creative Writing, University of San Francisco, 2012
- M.A., Stanford University, Design & Development of Educational Programs, 1991
- B.S., University of San Francisco, Organizational Behavior, 1989
On a personal level, if you really knew me … you’d know that I dislike “boxing myself in” through the very act of defining myself, but if you’re to know a little about me I must use description. I consider myself a strong woman, positive and happy by nature, who loves to explore, create, express, and enjoy life as fully as possible. I am highly verbal (I like to joke that the last thing about me that falls asleep every night is my mouth) and love to write. I love doing things, as opposed to being things. Therefore, tools—defined as anything that helps a person do something else— are the best presents for me.
Writing and reading have always been an integral part of my life. As long as I can remember, I have practically worshiped the smell and texture of books. As a little girl, my nightstand was piled high with fairy tales, mysteries, fictional history, poetry, and short stories. My mother would shake her head and ask me how I could possibly read so many books at the same time. I would just shrug; how could I not? I thought she, a high school English teacher, would understand; reading and writing was like breathing.
Photography is another way I explore and express the awesome beauty I perceive in the world around me. Favorite photography genres include: Natural Light Portraits, Close-Ups, Flowers & Plants, Seascapes and Landscapes. I am inspired by photography that moves me emotionally, makes me stop and think, and/or gives me a new perspective. Photography that makes me “wish I’d done that” inspires me.
I am a mother and grandmother. As time goes on I define myself less and less by the roles I play in life, yet I don’t want to forget that’s a big part of who I am. I have strong mothering energy and have often been described by others as an “earth goddess.” People say they feel safe with me, and “held.”
It is in nature – the forest, by the lake, or the ocean – that I feel most centered and in a place of deep communion with the universe. It is where I feel both infinitely small and infinitely important. And I’m o.k. with that paradox.
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Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure. ~Helen Keller
