Life is too short for conflict and division — and yet it can feel inescapable. But each of us has more power than we think. What we post, the words we choose when we disagree, the tone we bring, the timing we pick — it all adds up. Think back to a moment when you contributed to a conversation in a way you'd do differently now. What were you feeling? What might you say instead? Every act of intentional kindness, every moment of choosing curiosity over judgment, is a step toward stopping the violets — and starting something better.
Suzie Hightshoe is an Iowa educator, storyteller, and photographer whose life's work has been built on a single, luminous belief: that if we are quiet enough, we can hear the story the world is trying to tell us.
Born into a family with more than 150 years of combined teaching legacy — her aunts' manuscripts, plays, poems, and sheet music now preserved at the Museum of Education at the University of Northern Iowa — Suzie carried that legacy into 40 years of her own classroom. Along the way she earned the National Social Studies Teacher of the Year award (1996), traveled to Japan as a Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher, and served as an educational ambassador to Russia, bringing cultures together through the universal language of story. Her fifth graders slept under the stars during Iowa's Sesquicentennial. They doused old cemeteries, rode steamboats on the Mississippi, walked alongside wagon trains, and shared Norwegian dinners in Decorah. History was never something Suzie taught from behind a desk.
For Suzie, photography IS storytelling — the camera lens a portal through which she can hear thunder, smell lilies, feel the flutter of a kitten's fur, and taste the first sip of a bold morning coffee. Her art invites you to slow down, look closer, and find meaning in the places and faces most people walk right past.
"Everything and everyone is Art." — Suzie Hightshoe
About this Journal:
• Size: 5.5" × 8.5" — the perfect companion, at home or on the go
• 80 lined pages of cream-colored paper
• UltraHyde hardcover with a rich, luxurious feel
• Cream ribbon page marker and matching elastic closure
• Expandable inner pocket for notes, cards, and keepsakes
• Print quality is exceptional — vivid, true-to-life, and exactly as pictured
Life is too short for conflict and division — and yet it can feel inescapable. But each of us has more power than we think. What we post, the words we choose when we disagree, the tone we bring, the timing we pick — it all adds up. Think back to a moment when you contributed to a conversation in a way you'd do differently now. What were you feeling? What might you say instead? Every act of intentional kindness, every moment of choosing curiosity over judgment, is a step toward stopping the violets — and starting something better.
Suzie Hightshoe is an Iowa educator, storyteller, and photographer whose life's work has been built on a single, luminous belief: that if we are quiet enough, we can hear the story the world is trying to tell us.
Born into a family with more than 150 years of combined teaching legacy — her aunts' manuscripts, plays, poems, and sheet music now preserved at the Museum of Education at the University of Northern Iowa — Suzie carried that legacy into 40 years of her own classroom. Along the way she earned the National Social Studies Teacher of the Year award (1996), traveled to Japan as a Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher, and served as an educational ambassador to Russia, bringing cultures together through the universal language of story. Her fifth graders slept under the stars during Iowa's Sesquicentennial. They doused old cemeteries, rode steamboats on the Mississippi, walked alongside wagon trains, and shared Norwegian dinners in Decorah. History was never something Suzie taught from behind a desk.
For Suzie, photography IS storytelling — the camera lens a portal through which she can hear thunder, smell lilies, feel the flutter of a kitten's fur, and taste the first sip of a bold morning coffee. Her art invites you to slow down, look closer, and find meaning in the places and faces most people walk right past.
"Everything and everyone is Art." — Suzie Hightshoe
About this Journal:
• Size: 5.5" × 8.5" — the perfect companion, at home or on the go
• 80 lined pages of cream-colored paper
• UltraHyde hardcover with a rich, luxurious feel
• Cream ribbon page marker and matching elastic closure
• Expandable inner pocket for notes, cards, and keepsakes
• Print quality is exceptional — vivid, true-to-life, and exactly as pictured
