Shortly after moving to Columbus in March, Jennifer Hartness noticed one of her neighbors taking on a project she didn’t expect.

In a small patch of grass behind his apartment, scarcely enough to be called a yard, a compost pile appeared. Plants followed in their turn, lining the sidewalks.

“It just made it absolutely beautiful,” Hartness said. “I thought it was amazing that he took that care and that time, used what he had and brought a little bit of the country into the city.”

Inspired, Hartness wrote a poem about the garden and gave it to her very appreciative neighbor, one of many writings she’s penned since reviving her talents following a 20-year break.

“I’m just inspired by the world, by everything I see,” she said, before mentioning a recent trip she took to Dismals Canyon in Alabama. “… My mind kind of turns things into these little worlds from the things I see. Like there was this little hollowed-out root, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, if I was a frog, that would be like the perfect place to live.’”

As a child, Hartness gravitated to reading, getting lost in the stories. By high school, her creative writing teacher helped her fashion stories of her own, through prose and poetry. Hartness could never make a grade higher than 99 in the class, she recalled, as her teacher often reminded her, “there’s always room for improvement.”

She stopped writing almost entirely as she raised her three children, now all adults. But after domestic violence drove her to move from Starkville to “start over” in Columbus, where she works as head nurse for the city school district, she turned back to the craft as an outlet to process her emotions, especially her grief and pain.

“It’s a really great way to view things in a different way and not let things consume you,” she said.

Hartness already felt a warm welcome to the city, but to better find her place in the community, she joined two writing groups at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library – a general writing group and one centered on writing to heal.

Where the latter focuses on prompts that are deeper and more personal, Hartness said it’s been the lighter, more fun prompts in the general group that have pushed her boundaries – whether it’s writing a letter of concern to Kermit the Frog or writing from the standpoint of a sweater waiting for its weather.

As someone who had rarely shared her writing with anyone in the past, she was not expecting the overwhelmingly positive feedback it has received from fellow group members.

“It definitely was surprising when I shared my work to hear people say, ‘Oh, this is great. I loved this part. I felt like I was in it.’ Things like that,” she said.

And they weren’t the only ones impressed.

“She’s so creative and somehow she’s always been cooking something when it comes to her writing,” said Melissa Duncan-Thomas, community engagement coordinator with the library and leader for both writing groups. “Every time she reads, I’m a little gobsmacked. … Her imagery is so excellent, and it definitely comes from a place of experience. She writes from very real places and just takes you to different realms with the way she goes into grief or other life challenges.”

Hartness’ writing also leads group members on discussions they otherwise wouldn’t have, Duncan-Thomas said.

“All the members really enjoy taking those trips. No one is ready to just get up and go,” Duncan-Thomas said. “Jennifer has definitely been one of those I’ll probably remember her writing forever.”

A nurse by trade, Hartness worked in labor and delivery at OCH Regional Medical Center before commuting to Columbus starting in 2018 as the Franklin Academy nurse in Columbus. A few years later, she was promoted to head nurse for the district, with her office at the middle school.

In that role, she oversees nurses throughout the district, coordinates training and serves as a liaison between the campus nurses and district administration. She also takes plenty of time to see students one-on-one, whether it’s helping them take care of their diabetes or supporting students who get sick or injured at school.

“It’s a huge difference,” she said of her time at OCH and the school district. “It’s so amazing to get to be there when life comes into the world. … The great thing about the school district is I get to watch these babies grow up.”

She also advocates for domestic violence victims, creating a resource guide to help them navigate the legal system without “having to become lawyers overnight.” As she said she discovered in her own experience, even laws meant to be helpful can create roadblocks.

Hartness is also starting to seriously think about getting some of her writing published.

“My poetry tends to continue from one poem to another. It tells a story and fits all together. … I feel emotions so largely, so processing that … helping it make sense helped me to deal with those things,” she said. “I’ve had people tell me it helps them to read my poetry. So, if it can help somebody put words to their feelings and help them process things they are going through as well, I would love to share that with people.”

The “common thread,” Hartness said, through her writing, her nursing and her personal life is making sure people don’t feel alone and to “see them as a full person.”

“There is so much beneath the surface you may not see on a day-to-day basis, so trying to acknowledge that,” she said.

Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.