Words from the Heart

I am so happy to share an interview with one of my favorite people who has just published a new book.  Kim Lloyd!  I met Kim virtually through my daughter, Courtney.  Her positive attitude, compassion and enthusiasm resonated with me.  When I learned about her book, Start Where You Are : A beginner's guide to lifting weights and feeling great, I knew I wanted to share it with my readers. Let the interview begin! Welcome, Kim! Before we delve into the book, could you tell the readers a bit about how you got where you are today?   Thank you Linda! And thank you so much for inviting me to share on your page.  Author Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) has an incredible talk about not following your passion, but following your curiosity. Though I didn't recognize it at the time, I spent my twenties and thirties doing exactly that. I wrote for a newspaper, coached college sports, freelanced as a photographer, and worked more than my fair share of odd jobs. (Hos...

With the advent of the "Me, too" campaign, I have seen a disturbing rise in the use of the word bitch on social media. What is disturbing is that young women are using this word to describe themselves. Why, I ask? When we coop words that have been used to denegrate, demean and dehumanize people to identify ourselves, we are giving our power away, not strengthing it. This form of identity is akin to the idea of "if you can't beat them, join them." Do we, as women, really want to do that? This blog was built on the belief that words hold power. They can hurt, as well as heal. We decide in our day-to-day use of language, which we want to promote.  So, let's step back for a moment and look at the etymology of the word, bitch.  " bitch (n.)Old English bicce "female dog," probably from Old Norse bikkjuna "female of the dog" (also of the fox, wolf, and occasionally other beasts), which is of unknown origin. Grimm derives the Old...

Lighting the Path (c) 2016 Linda M. Rhinehart Neas In the wee hours of this New Year, I was struggling to find My One Word   for 2017. In the past, the word for the year jumped out at me long before the old year ended. This year...nothing.  Then, this morning, as I searched for my word, there it was on the first site I opened - Fearless! Fearless -   to be without fear; bold or brave; intrepid .   Easier said than done! How am I going to do this?  After all, the idea of My One Word is to find an adjective that you can meditate on, in order to personify it in your own life. Me, fearless??  Yikes! So, I immediately began to meditate on this word. Who do I see as fearless? What makes them that way? What is a fearless act?  I typed in fearless women , into Google. And, there she was. One of my all-time heroines, Rosa Parks. What made her fearless? She had had enough of being pushed aside because of her race. She was tired and wanted to...

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 ...

Over a year ago, I had an epiphany that led me to write an eBook, Returning to the Circle: Inspirational Wisdom from Women for Women. This is a work of love created in collaboration with several of my dear Sisters of the Soul, who contributed words of wisdom of their own.  The idea of the book is to reach out, especially to young women and girls, who may not be able to share in the wisdom that was once available to women as they gathered around the kitchen table or at the sewing bee or as they ground corn, prepared food or tended the fire. Within the pages of this book, women will find thirty days of affirmations along with the writings of my "sisters" and I.  Our hope is that it will help them to feel stronger, to have more confidence and to know their value.  One of the saddest things I have encountered in my middle years is the number of women who don't see their own self-worth. If you know of a young woman, girl or even a young-thinking woman, who might benefi...

I don't often review books, mainly because I think people should read books and decide whether they are relevant to them rather than taking the word of someone else.  However, I am making an exception with Beyond Belief: The Secret Lives of Women in Extreme Religions, an anthology of stories by women from a wide and diverse range of religious communities.  I learned of this book through Women on Writing , who are sponsoring the Beyond Belief Blog Tour. The first thing that hit me was the use of the word extreme.  What, I thought, was an "extreme" religion?  As an interfaith minister, I had some ideas, but like most judgements, they were my own personal feelings.  So, I delved into the introduction to the book written by the editors, Susan Tive and Cami Ostman.   Susan and Cami tell the readers in their introduction about how "women living life inside extreme religions have much in common despite their differences of practice and belief." ...

The quilt arrived quite by surprise.  Roger's Mom was "down-sizing" and sent it along home with him one night.  Over fifty years old, it looks as if it has just been made.  Each stitch as straight as the day it was sewn, each piece of cloth still bright.  I was thrilled! You see, the reason this is so special to me is that it was handmade.  I mean really handmade.  Every stitch was placed by hand, not machine. I am in awe of such work. (This is not to say that machine made quilts are not special, also.  I have seen some that are breathtaking works of art.  I am simply in awe of those made with a needle and thread by a woman/women one stitch at a time.)   There was a day when handwork was expected.  Women if they did not have a specialty, at least knew the basics of sewing, knitting, crocheting, weaving, lace making and tatting. In a pinch, they could do what needed to be done to make something to wear, create a gift, or ...

  Women's Int ernational League USA - 19 22 National Photo Company [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons   Greetings, Women of the World! Today is our day!   Well, at least that is what it says on the calendar. So, in celebration of women everywhere, I thought I would share some poems, mine and others, on women. This first poem was written several years ago in praise of a dear friend, who loves in such a way that everyone feels as if they are her best friend. HANNAH’S VALENTINE Everyday is Valentine’s For those within her world. Like her colonial red door with it’s heart shape window - Shining, Her heart is open - Always. Inside her kitchen’s Filled with warmth And recipes to nourish - Body and soul - A pinch of love, A dash of joy, Heaping cups of hugs! Everyday is Valentine’s - Hannah makes it so!   ©1991 LMRN This poem, my mother read to me as a little girl. The poet captures the life of many women in such a few lines. ...

Today, I am changing gears and sharing the blog with guest author, Beth Barany .  Beth shares some insights on using Twitter to promote newly published books.   Promotions on $0 Budget: Use Twitter for a Purpose by Beth Barany Twitter is a lot of fun! I’d be the first to admit it. And it’s a time suck. In researching this article I spent WAY too much time playing on Twitter, doing good things—which I’ll get to later—but it’s distracting nonetheless. Lesson: set a time to write the article [done!] and a time limit on Twitter. [I’m going to have to work on that one!]  You may think that using Twitter is a complete waste of time (see above), but actually it’s a goldmine of promotional opportunities for authors. If you use Twitter to grow your fan base, build your book buzz, and ultimately sell your books, then Twitter can be worth all your time away from your current work in progress. Yah!     Before We Begin – Twitter Basics   ...

Several months ago, I came across a video by Taylor Mali, a teacher who answered the question, "What do you make?" with eloquence and finesse. I shared the video with my soul sister, Eliza Fayle .  She was so inspired by it, that she began putting together a book of women who make a difference.   Yesterday, in an email, I received a copy of her second edition of Women Who Make a Difference .  Surprise!  There I was, along with seven other amazing, talented and wonderful women.  Let me tell you a little about Eliza.  She is a dynamo when it comes to affirming and supporting women.  Here website, Silver and Grace gives women over 40 a variety of topics to ponder - everything from what to wear in the summer to great reads and dealing with aging parents.  Eliza is a no holds barred type of woman.  She looks at, ponders and discusses everything from breast cancer to vaginal creams.  She does it with humor, yet, she gives so...

Image via Wikipedia Dr. Wangari Maathai   The first time I heard the term, a force of nature, used to describe Nobel Peace Laureate , Wangari Maathai, I wondered if the writer was being derogatory. After all, I reasoned, a strong woman is often looked down on by those who fear her power.  However, as I learned more about this amazing woman, I realized that this was a term of endearment, a term of great honor. A force of nature...like a hurricane, tornado, or northeaster...Dr. Maathai swept into action creating a new world in her wake.  For the women whose lives she touched, she left confidence, hope for a brighter future, and the knowledge that the world could be different.  For the children whose lives she touched, she taught a love of the environment, a love of self and a love of each other.  For the men her life touched, she was the personification of Grace under pressure, Peace in the storm and Calm Assurance in the midst of chaos. Dr. Maathai's deat...

Today, I have the honor of hosting a guest blogger, Linda Hubalek. Linda’s sixth grade teacher assigned her class the traditional “What I Want to be When I Grow Up”. Linda had an nontraditional answer…she didn’t want to be a nurse, a teacher, or a mom. She wanted to be a farmer! Linda’s sixth grade dream came true when she graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in Agriculture/Horticulture and spent years doing agronomy research and eventually starting her own business Prairie Flower Creations. Much like her own ancestors who headed West, Linda found herself in California tending a cement garden and longing for the fields of Kansas. Linda “visited” her beloved Kansas by writing the Trail of Thread series about Kansas pioneer women.   Although Linda is back in Kansas (growing bison this time, not prairie flowers), she’s still writing about Kansas women. Her FOURTH series, the Kansas Quilter series will be released late this year.    Welcome Linda as she g...

 Four Generations of Neas Women (2005) Not sure why, but this Mother's Day I feel particularly melancholy.  Looking at the pictures of my girls over the years, I find myself all teary eyed.  Part of it is the realization that they are now young women with families of their own.  Where did the time go?  The other part of it, I think, comes from concern over where we, as human beings, are heading. My concern is not unique.  Women, since the beginning of time, have worried about the safety their children.  Our concerns have not changed over time; they are simply different.  Back in the 1800's when Ann Marie Reeves and Julia Ward Howe began working on an official recognition of mothers, women worried.  In 1870, Julia Ward Howe gave this rousing speech proclaiming the first Mother's Day: Arise, then, women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or tears! Say firmly: "We will not have great ques...