On a dreary, wet winter Saturday evening, I found myself outside of the store called A Natural Approach in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Getting out of my car I was greeted by some shirtless guy standing on his porch saying “Hey, beautiful.” I ignored him, as I brush off all gross men like that and continued on down the street to the shop. Opening the door to the tiny store, I found myself hit with a variety of pleasant scents, waking me up from my sleepy trance. Sitting behind the counter of the all-natural products store was Sue Petersen, my creative writing teacher from high school. She was the one teaching the class this evening, but how did our paths cross again?

Since I graduated high school, I added her on Facebook to keep up with her life in her retirement. Mostly, she shares political memes, articles about underappreciated teachers in the American school system, her love for creating jewelry with precious stones, and shares events she hosts at A Natural Approach. This event I was attending, called “For the Love of Words,” was described on Facebook as a donation event to sit down in a circle and discuss poetry, encouraging people to bring finished and unfinished works. As someone who has visited poetry nights before, I felt excited when I initially registered for the event to share my work. The weather did bring my confidence down a bit, but the moment I saw my teacher, I felt much more relaxed.

As someone who usually shows up early to events, I was not surprised to be the first person there. She led me to a space in the back of the store with some chairs in a circle, and I noticed a table with an assortment of teas and other beverages. Similar to my environment in high school, she had keurigs and assortments of coffee and tea for us creative writing students to drink as we worked. I can thank her for associating coffee with any creative flow. It definitely was a different environment compared to the last time I saw her, where I was the student and sat at a desk with her at the chalkboard attempting to keep the attention of some disrespectful students in the back. This gave us plenty of time to catch up over the past few years since we have last seen each other.

Another person did show up eventually, visibly relaxed like I was once she walked through the threshold into the store. I did hope there would be a larger turnout, but this was the first time she has hosted an event like this. We all shared some works we brought along, and bonded in telling each other some stories in our lives. There was a sense of community that I definitely enjoyed, bringing three individuals from different walks of life together. In the future, I definitely hope to show up to other events like this, as I always enjoy hearing other people’s work. Anything I can do to support these artistic endeavors is always fascinating to me. The space is always so relaxed, non-judgemental, and a fun way to push myself out of my comfort zone.

You can check out the various events offered at A Natural Approach here.