Words from the Heart

Roger often brings me home "treats" from the library.  He knows that I seldom have time to peruse the stacks.  In fact, I usually only go to the library if I know what I need. So, his frequent "findings" are always a delight! Last week, he came home with a real treasure of a book, Find the Good: Unexpected Li f e Lessons from a Small-town Obituary Writer , by Heather Lende . Yes, you read correctly, "obituary writer!"  I was intrigued and delighted from get-go. Heather writes about how being the obituary writer for her small town in Alaska brought her wisdom, which she lovingly shares in this book.  These are great life-lessons like, "Be sure your dog walks you, or Put on a costume now and then, and , one of my favorites, "Listen to your mother," to name a few. In her telling of the lives of the people she knows, loves and respects, she finds the lessons that she relates to her own life.  She tells her tales as one would if they w...

When I was first asked to read Deranged , by Nora L. Jamieson , I was drawn by the fact that the promo for it said it was a book with three stories about three woman. "Each woman wrestles with forces, both personal and ancestral..." the letter read.  I was hooked. Nora Jamieson takes the reader on a journey where paths cross, lives change, time merges and magic abounds. Her characters - Anna, Sophie and Louise - are alive and vibrant.  I know these women!  I connected immediately with the use of "deranged" within the stories.  Not sure if this is a New England term or not (Nora lives in Connecticut; I live in Massachusetts.) but I have heard the word used many times over the years in the same context as her stories. Nora's descriptions of the natural world are alive with color, motion, sound, smell and even the bitter/sweet taste of life.  The reader can get lost in the woods along with the characters, yet feel that they know the way home.  There ...

No matter where we go in life, we must deal with people, events and things that may or may not be difficult. Having the right "tools" at hand makes our journey less stressful and much more fulfilling. Our guest writer, Lorraine Ash shares her tips on what to take in our spiritual backpacks during Life's journey as we participate in the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour for her new book, Self and Soul: On Creating a Meaningful Life . In this uplifting memoir, Lorraine Ash uses her own life experiences to explore inner landscapes where the seeds of divine healing and insight reside. These are the landscapes on which we create our own meaning and find the resiliency to thrive in a changing and challenging world.    Photo credit: ©Asdf_1 | Dreamstime.com     Today, Lorraine answers for us the question, "What is in your spiritual backpack?"   Any traveler, from a hiker to a spiritual seeker, loves talking about maps, directions, and roads trav...

Today, I am delighted to share the wit and wisdom of Pesi Dinnerstein (a.k.a. Paulette Plonchak), who has written selections for the best-selling series, Small Miracles , by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal, and has contributed to several textbooks and an anthology of short stories. Pesi is a retired faculty member of the City University of New York, where she taught language skills for close to thirty years. Pesi's new book, A Cluttered Life: Searching for God, Serenity and My Missing Keys has just been released. In it she shares that she is a "self-acknowledged clutterer" who "has spent the better part of her life trying to get organized and out from under. Despite heroic efforts, she has not yet succeeded; but she continues to push onward, and hopes that her journey will inspire others to keep trying as well." Here are Pesi's thoughts on living without clutter ~~ I’ve always had a complicated and ambivalent relationship with my clutter, but it’...

Accents have a way of getting in the way of our understanding of words at times.  I realized this the other day while taking pictures of my granddaughter and her aunt as they put on a puppet show.  They had made an impromptu stage out of the little one's bed and a blanket.  They used two Wild Things puppets for their little play.   I took pictures to document the moment.  At the end of the play, I said in my Boston accent, "OK, show me the puppeteers."   Without a pause, my three-year old granddaughter raised her puppet, saying, "Waaa, Waaa."     It wasn't until she peeked over the sheet, holding up her puppet and said, "Puppets don't cry...they smile...see!" that I realize that what she heard me ask to see was "puppet tears ."  Needless to say, it cracked us all up.   The point of all this is that often we run into problems in life because one person hears something completely different from what another person has said....