Description
Praise for Leading a Life:
Georgia Ressmeyer’s new book of poems, Leading a Life, is an extraordinary read. Formerly a public defender for individuals diagnosed with a mental illness, Ressmeyer realizes that all people are just trying to live their lives, each struggling with burdens, emotional makeup, a particular environment that often dictates a favorite coping mechanism. What struck this reader was the respect and dignity Ressmeyer gives each person, and the questions she asks of herself, of us, such as, “Who’s the sane one? Who isn’t?” She ponders “how fragile the human mind is.” The poems, open ended, speak to us all. They are at once affirming and expansive. They invite reflection. I highly recommend Leading a Life. –Mary Jo Balistreri, author of Still (Future Cycle Press, 2018)
Kathryn Gahl (verified owner) –
Georgia Ressmeyer sees the sun’s ‘heart beating in the shimmer of its giant / orange eye.’ It takes that kind of person to see into the heart of someone with mental illness, someone in need of Georgia to explain legal options while paying attention to snakes, dark circles, mournful eyes, boa constrictors in the furnace–all the vagaries of cognitive distortions and minds gone awry.
How did she do it? She swallowed the magic pill. Good thing. Her musings are magic indeed, transforming ‘the mystery of misery’ she encounters. Distorted thoughts and emotional turmoil are treated with respect. She peers into many souls and comes to ponder how far she is from those she served. Citing her ‘beach-ball brain’, she wrying wonders if she would ‘take whatever meds I’m told are best?’
Georgia needs only the med of wordsmithing. And the med we need is Georgia herself. Read her and expand our own consciousness.
Sylvia Cavanaugh –
Leading a Life is a moving, sometimes amusing, often poignant reflection on mental health. These exquisitely crafted poems lead the reader through courtrooms, along the sands of Lake Michigan, and into lively inner spaces. Georgia Ressmeyer writes beautifully about her former clients, granting them the full spectrum of their humanity. This collection also includes wonderfully wrought musings on states of mind that anyone may experience, ranging from “Hope Dips,” to “Song for Two Voices,” in which the last line of the book “explodes in color, globes of light.” Leading a Life basks in color, shining a holistic, compassionate light on mental illness and fragility.
Christopher Hoyer (verified owner) –
Stunning stuff! Yet again! For those unfamiliar with Georgia Ressmeyer’s work this is a great place to start. Gifted poet, insightful storyteller, compassionate attorney.