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Dr. Kellie D. Brown

@kelliedbrown1.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.6K following 1.2K posts

Professor of Music, violinist, conductor, writer, poet, Holocaust researcher, UMC lay minister kelliedbrown.com

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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Sending peace and light your way. ❤️ 🕯
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
It was The Waltons fire episode.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
What does it mean to be deeply connected to a particular place, to be embedded in it, over an extended period of time? This is one of the questions that occupies the amazing work of Canadian artist Marlene Creates. kelliedbrown.substack.com/p/embeddedne...
kelliedbrown.substack.com
Embeddedness
Memory and Place in the Work of Artist Marlene Creates
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I'm grateful to St. Katherine Review for publishing my poem "Blessings for Cleaning Your Parents' Hoarded Kitchen." www.stkatherinereview.com/post/blessin...
stkatherinereview.com
Blessings for Cleaning Your Parents’ Hoarded Kitchen
Blessed are you who vie with ants and all trespassing pests for yours is the companionship of angels.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Yes, true about the government 😔
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
My parents just died in the past 4 months, aged 80 and 82. This giant generation of baby boomers have hit 80 ish and are dying. Just like Dolly Parton and Annie Dillard. God help us. It's going to be mass loss.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Name a non-LOTR character who could resist the One Ring
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This is my reflection on losing Dolly Parton and Wendell Berry. It is also about what place means in our losses, specifically how does the location where we hear the news of loss impact us. Is that place forever marked? kelliedbrown.substack.com/p/the-sticki...
kelliedbrown.substack.com
The Stickiness of Loss
How Grief Roots Us
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Big fan
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Dolly had a unique capacity to speak in a universal way that made people from all walks of life able to resonate with her music and spirit. In 2019 I took a group of university students from East TN to Europe. On a bus in Greece at 4 am, we were singing Jolene. That is the power of Dolly.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
What does it mean to find closure when trauma and complicated grief are present? What windows can we push open to let new life flow in? I'm searching for those answers. kelliedbrown.substack.com/p/closed-doo...
kelliedbrown.substack.com
Closed Doors and Opened Windows
Reflections on Complicated Grief
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
“How fragile we are, between the few good moments.” These words of Jane Hirshfield in her poem “Vinegar and Oil” come to mind often. Life throws so many punches. This morning, 2 students at the university where I teach were killed in a cycling accident. Lord, why so few good moments?
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
As I read about the drought exposing hunger stones along European rivers, I began to think about metaphorical hunger stones in our own lives and memorial cairns. I think stones have much to teach us. kelliedbrown.substack.com/p/lessons-fr...
kelliedbrown.substack.com
Lessons from Stones
What we can learn about place markers and hunger
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
My poem “Render” was published today. It is about the fear that all creatives have that one day the well will dry , & we’ll have nothing to say. It offers solidarity with that fear & a hopeful path during those fallow times. I hope you'll take a moment to read it. substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Render
Author Kellie Brown
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
thank you
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Memoir writing has you thinking about all kinds of things, such as what’s calming & what’s frightening. The ocean is that type of place for me, memories & mystery, safety & danger; a good metaphor for a life that includes complex grief and trauma healing journeys. open.substack.com/pub/kelliedb...
open.substack.com
Dolphins and Warning Signs
Trauma Awareness and Healing
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Yuck. I feels like I've stepped into a jungle this morning. This humidity can go to hell.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
With the heat index soaring, it's a perfect time to look forward to fall. I've already seen pumpkin decor making its way into stores.nThere is a reason why Summerween is a thing. So, enjoy this reflection on a quirky film from 1979. open.substack.com/pub/kelliedb...
open.substack.com
Love at First Bite, a GenX film
The nostalgia of Halloween in June
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
What does it mean if you look at a clump of leaves, and it looks like the face of Lady Elaine Fairchilde? Asking for a friend.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Thank you, Heather
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I'm needing to sell some high-end costume jewelry and carnival glass from my mother's estate. Does anyone have advice about whether Ebay or Etsy is the better place? I appreciate any advice you have.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Today is my late mother's birthday and my father's second Father's Day in memory care. It's a lot to process. I hope I can be gentle with my tender self.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Perfect
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Then follow it by Twister. Rinse and repeat.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
A Muppet Clockwork Orange
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Yes. Let's forget it and eat something yummy. Solidarity with you.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I'm celebrating the sixth anniversary of my book by highighting the story of Herbert Zipper. A man of great resilience, he survived two concentration camps and used music to bring comfort to others and as a spiritual resistance to hatred and prejudice. kelliedbrown.substack.com/p/the-sound-...
kelliedbrown.substack.com
The Sound of Hope
Holocaust Stories of Resilience and Spiritual Resistance through Music
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I'm not much of a photographer, but the glory of nature did all the work.
Sky above calm ocean water.  Dark clouds with the sun shining through one.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Wow. What is that from?
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
I'm choosing to believe that this "Uncle Yam" is making fun of the orange one.
Mr. Potato Head in America 250 edition labeled Uncle Yam
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Amen
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
Very touching story. The sponge on the stick really got me as that was all that gave my mother comfort in her last few days.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
What you have done is make me want cupcakes. Those looks delicious. 🧁
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
“I’m inclined to think that we’re all ghosts…It’s not only the things that we’e inherited from our fathers and mothers that live on in us but all sorts of dead things…they’re not actually alive in us, but they’re rooted there all the same.” —Henrik Ibsen, Ghosts
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
If there was one magical power I could have, it would be to summon the book I need and have it fly from my shelves or stacks into my hand. (A lot of writing time has been lost today trying to find the books I need to be in conversation with.)
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
I found that an interesting observation, too.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
"The people we love are built into us. Every day I am suddenly aware of something someone taught me long ago—or just yesterday—of some certainty and self-awareness that grew out of conflict with someone I loved enough to try to encompass..." May Sarton, The House by the Sea #SundaySarton
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
I can't stop thinking about this quote from Arundhati Roy's recent memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me. “All personal achievement comes with a sense of foreboding. On the occasions when I am toasted or applauded, I always feel that someone else, someone quiet, is being beaten in the other room.”
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
This looks fabulous.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
A poem and love letter to trees. How they sustain us, teach us, and point us to those holy thin places. open.substack.com/pub/kelliedb...
open.substack.com
The Pedagogy and Poetics of Trees
And Thin Places
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Yes, it is fascinating.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
#SundaySarton "Because I am thinking so much about the past these days I have come to see that the past is always changing, is never static, never 'placed' forever like a book on a shelf. As we grow and change, we understand things and the people who have influenced us in new ways." (p. 95)
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
I haven't read her. I better get with it.
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Reposted by Dr. Kellie D. Brown
Kim McNeill •📚🌿☕️ @joiedevivre9.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
#SundaySarton “I spent the night at Carol & Jim Heilbrun’s, in their spacious old apartment on Central Park West … As we sat & talked, I felt perfect happiness & accord … glanced now & then at Duncan Grant‘s self-portrait on one wall & Vanessa Bell’s self-portrait over the mantle.“ (p152)
Self-Portrait by Vanessa Bell (ca. 1926) - Mills College Art Museum/Bequest of Carolyn G. HeilbrunSelf-Portrait by Duncan Grant (1926) - Mills College Art Museum/Bequest of Carolyn G. Heilbrun
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Ooh, what a wonderful word. Thank you for sharing.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Thank you for reading, Kim. I'm definitely envious of your sea time. 🫠
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
I agree. Ramona the Pest was life changing to me as a second grader.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
"Reply all" people are the worst.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
I enjoyed the book and am eager to see what looks like a clever adaptation. I'm glad to read your recommendation.
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Dr. Kellie D. Brown @kelliedbrown1.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Reflections on the allure of the sea and the journals of May Sarton open.substack.com/pub/kelliedb... #SundaySarton
open.substack.com
How to Be a Poet at the Beach
Waves and Words and Midlife and Grief
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