If I’m not serving, who am I? If I’m not helping others, why am I here?
On Martha and Mary
Diane Masiello
I am a writer and high school English teacher at a Catholic, all-girls private school. I began my teaching and writing career over 30 years ago, earning my Ph.D. in English Education from and first teaching at New York University. After I finished my degree work, my husband and I moved to Florida; I have taught at both Nova Southeastern University and The University of Tampa.
I left academia to raise two beautiful daughters and help care for my parents, which is when I turned to blogging to help me process my experiences. I started in 2003 with a LiveJournal entitled "Afternoons with Coffee Spoons" which I eventually translated over to Wordpress. In 2019 I was invited to join "The Gloria Sirens" blog, which gave me space to develop my voice.
Over the past few years, as I have raised teenagers and gone back to teaching, my writing has become more focused on the interplay of the Catholic faith, mystery, and storytelling. This has, in 2025, led me to return to writing exclusively for my own blog where I can more fully explore "Every Grace and Blessing" that God has bestowed upon me and those I love.
What She Said, December 13: Ursula K. Le Guin
Light is the left hand of darkness
and darkness the right hand of light.
Two are one, life and death, lying
together like lovers . . . like hands joined together, like the end and the way. –Ursula K. LeGuin
What She Said, December 12: Octavia Butler
All that you touch
You Change.
All that you Change
Changes you.
The only lasting truth
is Change.
God
is Change.
–Octavia Butler
What She Said, December 11: Shauna Niequist
I don’t want to wait anymore. I choose to believe that there is nothing more sacred or profound than this day. I choose to believe that there may be a thousand big moments embedded in this day, waiting to be discovered like tiny shards of gold. –Shauna Niequist
What She Said, December 10: Barbara Kingsolver
The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. –Barbara Kingsolver
What She Said, December 9: C. J. Cherryh
What we individually deserve isn’t as much as what we collectively merit. –C. J. Cherryh
What She Said, December 8: Julian May
Some creatures survive, some become extinct. But no matter how great the ecological disaster, the paradox called life keeps on defying entropy and trying to perfect itself. Hard times just seem to help evolution. –Julian May
What She Said, December 7: Mercedes Lackey
The people who keep coping, keep trying, no matter how many blows fate takes at them. Nobody’ll make a song about them, but they’re heroes all the same. –Mercedes Lackey
Endings . . . and Beginnings
While most people think about food this time of year, I contemplate the end of the world.
What She Said, November 22: Louise Gluck
I think here I will leave you. it has come to seem there is no perfect ending. Indeed, there are infinite endings. Or perhaps, once one begins, there are only endings. –Louise Gluck
The Gloria Sirens 