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My cell phone dings indicating another text message. I ignore it, trying to honor my commitment not to act like a Pavlov’s Dog at any sound it makes. “Another showing at 4 pm,” Rich shouts from another room. I sigh as a warm feeling rises from my chest, hoping, wanting this to be the family […]

Thanks for reading Laurie Riedman More Than Words ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. I am surrounded by stacking boxes and  open cabinets, once overflowing, now sitting empty ready to be filled by the next owner.  As I prepare to leave our home for the last 34 years, I

I was always told there was a major difference between wanting and needing.   They were independent of each other. When I held up a book, toy, or piece of candy at the store, begging Mom to buy it, her reply would always be, ”Not today.  We don’t need that.”   When I really wanted to tell

Today, on my walk, I was listening to a podcast interview. The child’s game — Mother, may I — was mentioned. I continued on my walk, turning the podcast off, as I often do to listen to the sounds around me. The symphony of the birds I heard. The warmth from the sun shining above

Who am I? Who am I?As a childNeedingYour unconditional loveto discoverwho I am meant to be. “Look at me mom!”I am what I can do.Taking my first stepsJumping ropeRiding a two-wheelerSwimming over my head The applause.I am what I accomplish.What I am recognized to be.Soloist in chorusCaptain of CheerleadingLead in the playStraight A’sMagna Cum Laude

“It’s time,” my husband Rich says as we drive back from seeing a brand new townhome overlooking the lake we’ve lived near but not on for the past 33 years. “I get a good feeling about this. We’re ready.” “I’m not so sure,” I murmur, knowing I was the one that pushed him to make

I see you.  I am here. This morning I sipped my coffee and attempted to read the newspaper.  I say attempted because I can’t seem to get through it.  I have to stop often reading mid- sentence because I get so irritated and feel so hopeless about all the challenges facing our country and world. 

Niagara-on-the-lake 2018 What do I want to bring to this day? What a great way to start my day.  I was listening to Sharon Salzberg, famed meditation and mindfulness teacher, on a podcast recently, and I heard her use this as a query that can lead us to find our purpose.  The interviewer asked her

Those early misty mornings on the Hudson River on the Marist College crew team were filled with life lessons. Especially the ones where the fog was so thick you couldn’t see beyond a few feet in front of you. We had to rely on each other for safety. We had to trust our instincts and

An essay I submitted to a Brave Healer’s Badass Writer’s contest and placed second! The prompt was to write about awareness. Enjoy! Sunrise 2019 in our back field Last year I turned 60, and I had plans for a yearlong celebration.  Instead, I found myself floundering, digging deep into self. What do I want?  What’s