Steve Baxter got tired of having the wrong ideas. So he decided to have the write idea instead.
A former Emporian who now lives in Florida, Baxter has recently published his first book: “Revolutionary Spirituality: Awakening to Your True Self.” He is one of 40 local authors who will be at the Town Crier on June 9 for a mass author signing.
Baxter moved away from Kansas in 2001 after graduating college, eager to see the ocean and try something different. But just two years later, things seemed to be falling apart. When his marriage ended in 2003, he took it as a wakeup call that something inside had to change.
“It’s hard because you’re used to an old way of thinking,” Baxter said. “With me as with most people, you have to reach a point in your life that’s low enough to say ‘I can’t do this anymore. I have to do something different. This is not the way it’s supposed to be.’”
So Baxter reached for a pen.
He’d always enjoyed writing, though it had always been for either school or his own pleasure. Now it became a sort of therapy. Writing was a way to get out of himself, a way to look at where he was and where he wanted to be.
“I saw fear,” Baxter said. “I saw anxiety. I saw worry. But at the same time, I saw potential. Everyone has some sort of potential.”
Gradually, the written thoughts became paragraphs, pages, essays. Eventually, it grew into a book with one goal -- putting the “false self” behind and facing life without fear.
It’s not enough to just slap on a smiley-face sticker, Baxter said. Problems are there for a reason and they can only be resolved by facing their roots.
“You have to look at it, address it and understand it,” he said. “Once you understand it, you don’t have to deal with it anymore. It’s gone for good. ... There’s a difference between putting on a happy face and taking out the garbage.”
For him, it meant shifting his worldview and even his way of picturing God. Instead of fearing cosmic retribution, he’s started to look at the universe as a more loving place, gradually being made over into something better.
He finished the book last March. The last couple of months have been a whirlwind, not only getting the book onto shelves but putting the finishing touches on a wedding. Baxter is getting married again on Saturday to a woman he met in Florida.
Life is ahead. And he’s looking forward to it.
“I feel much more in control and centered,” he said. “I still don’t like sitting in traffic or when someone steals something from me, but things like that aren’t as big a deal as they used to be.”
The signing will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Town Crier. Also present will be: Mary Jo Amirault, Debbie Brock Bateman, Alice Bertels, Barbara Baldwin, Polly Basore, Rod Beemer, Roy Bird, Doc Carson, JB Cheaney, Joseph Collins, Robert Collins, Don Coldsmith, Jay Davies, Jerry Engler, Karen Ross Epp, Mike Everhart, Stephen Farney, Susan Fowler, Lisa Harkraker, Duane Hermann, Jamie Hill, Jim Hoy, Doris Johnson, Lee Killough, Jackie Lakin, Denise Low, Mary Lucus, Tom Mach,Linda Madl, Sheri McGhaty, Judith Miller, Ken Ohm, John Scott O’Shea, Donald Pady, Tom Parker, Deborah Raney, Kim Sawyer, Linda Spry, Debra Stufflebean, Mike Williams and Anna Zernickow.