Louisa-short bio

A seasoned mid-westerner, at age 6 Louisa began creating small books on folded napkins concerning life’s dilemmas while snowbound in Minnesota, as well as pursuing a path as a musician. But always she was most interested in human’s struggles and later brought her
focus there as a therapist. She lives on Milwaukee’s East Side or in Arcadia, Michigan with her husband, Richard to whom she owes much gratitude for welcoming the muse into their life.

She is currently Poet In Residence for Northern Michigan’s The Freshwater Reporter and recently won first prize in the Manistee County Library System’s 2022 poetry contest.
She has been an artist in residence with the Wisconsin Arts Board, her poetry has won awards and appeared in many journals and publications.

Book Publications include a collection of poems: Revelations on Longing Street; a chapbook of nature poems, Low Life and Blood Relatives, connected to her performances with Milwaukee’s Earth Poets and Musicians; An Eric Hoffer Foundation winner: The Wizard’s Dream: A Universal Winter’s Tale: the story of a young wizard who becomes mystified during the winter celebrations.

With Zaragueya Press, Rescue the Good Stuff, a novella-like series of narrative poems; and a chapbook The Vanishing Point. An engaging live performer, she has appeared on many radio shows, and in numerous live venues. She has performed in concerts as back-up vocalist and on keyboard with nationally known recording artist Singer/Songwriter Claudia Schmidt who has recorded and performs her poetry in concert.

For thirty years Louisa was a counselor for individuals and groups, specializing in mind-body approaches and conflict resolution through her Riverlake Center. Part of her work, “Just Life Conversations,” addresses dilemmas that may not require therapy but are nevertheless a tough spot to be in and hard to manage on one’s own, including a focus on the body’s role in distress and trauma. Her brochure includes a quote from her poem, In the Teeth: “We will wakeup tomorrow/to more green leaves and dew/right in the teeth of this wild world.”

Her focus remains especially on how to prevent and heal estrangements and dilemmas that range within and between individuals and families and how they connect to larger
conflicts/oppressions of racism, sexism, patriarchy. As in the following poems, her writing often reflects these concerns.

Bam! Bam!

That’s the trouble with life,

everyone has their reasons.

Jean Renoir

Do you see where the little wars begin? 

How in love you are with your opinion,

how little you hear me as I speak to you, 

so intent on formulating your response 

and how moral I am feeling right now 

with this observation of you. 

Volleys of monologues.

So it goes ME YOU ME YOU US THEM, 

Bam Bam  

Tiny gun battles unconsciously rehearsing the larger struggle 

gihads, fatwahs of personal opinion.  

The obsession to be right 

the right to quick anger, 

miniature hostilities that begin with tiny bullets, 

subtle wounds, undercover hurts, 

smoldering coals stoking, smoking toward conflagration

of how in love you are with your own opinion 

and how perfectly gloriously righteous I am feeling now

 with my lofty scrutiny of your imperfections, 

waiting to win the next volley.

Moths flying into flames. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone Waves

Everyone waves 

in our small village

as we pass by each other 

along the road even on 

snow-driven blustery days.

Briefly, we are on the same page, 

friends, kin, community. 

What if we all generously 

extended this gracious moment 

to our estrangements, 

our alienations, 

those we’ve dismissed? 

Possibly reach 

across the divide

to our friend we’ve ghosted, 

family we shun? 

One more nudge to open

the door we slammed

on those we feel

betrayed us?

Come on! 

Let’s jump 

into the small-town truck 

trapped in the frozen part 

of our soul, 

shift into a new gear,

hit the road!

Surrender ourselves 

to at least one more

gracious wave 

at the passerby

who once we held

so close in our heart.

 

Louisa Loveridge Gallas

LULU LaCHANCE: Who I Am Now

Hello! Yes, my new ‘blog’ handle, LULU LaCHANCE points to my current experience of myself I feel urgent to share.

So where am I and how to pay attention to our dire cluster of emergencies and awakenings: chronic racial injustice and white supremacy; the pandemic; the evolution of white privilege conscience: the climate crisis. The sustaining of community, family, love in the time of extreme challenges.

In the midst of these, what comes along and GRABS me is another dilemma so familiar it may seem humdrum: the way we throw shade at each other, our beloveds and friends, our long term relationships.  Our fears and incompetence to face interpersonal  conflicts; the personal, civic and global damage of such negligence. And of course, as a therapist, I must acknowledge how conflict aversion has, as its back story, so many profound familial and cultural influences, and body trauma that drive people to walk away.

Enter LULU LaCHANCE.  A nickname, a mantra, a nudge, a demand, to remind myself to clear my own grudges, communication fears, nano-second judgments, absolute certainties, my reactivity.  To give an alternative ‘CHANCE’ to open up the various narratives I tell myself to wider possibility. To say  ‘MAYBE’ to myself, as my freight train of righteousness heads into the station. To become more brave in addressing often severe discomfort in myself and others that makes us shut down.

Here is the closest place I come to certainty that bends toward preaching: if we evolve skills interpersonally as communicators, in our own backyard;  if we attend more justly to ‘the other’ within ourselves and among our loved ones/community, our inter-personal eco-system will ‘trickle up’ to assist all the great on-going social issues and current crises. As I move into my vintage years, this life-long concern has, I admit, risen to a passion and preoccupation that keeps me awake at night and enters my dreams. Some might think, of course, “we know this about ourselves, we must do better. We’re working on it.” True of many folk.

But not enough of us. Not hard enough.  

So that’s me. My current internal resume. All fired up. Perhaps you’ll jump on board this freight train! And help me keep from stopping at the Station of Certitude and Foregone Conclusions! Maybe!!

Lulu La Chance