Friendship

We build friendships based on like-minded ideas and principles. Friendship is not a thing of afternoons, though one can spend whole afternoons with friends and be eager for more. 

Friendship is a bond of understanding. I have many friends that honor me with their friendship. Nettie Reynolds is one.

The friendship we have has endured through years of silence. That happens sometimes. 

When I found Nettie, again, after many years of silence, we took up right where we left off. Our conversations (behind the scenes) were full of the stories of life we needed to share. And therein lies the best part of today's Smart Woman Conversation with Nettie Reynolds - storytelling. 

From Here to There

From tech journalist to media and publicity professional to interfaith hospital chaplain - Nettie Reynolds takes us through her many transitions as she embraces the meaning of her life, her story, her purpose. It's illuminating to hear the similarities in our stories - how we endured those trials and tribulations and ended up at a place we each craved throughout our childhood.

Nettie talks scrappy and how women of a certain age lived the life of scrappy as children. Some of us never let go of it - we brought being scrappy with  us as we grew into adults and it's helped us move forward on a path of realization.

After all, other words for scrappy are: fierce, ornery, ardent. 

In this conversation, Nettie talks about her work in grief counseling with families of all faiths and beliefs. Her work is dependent upon her listening skills. She hears stories from the hearts of her patients as they contemplate their place in the universe. She recognizes and shares with us the humanity of those inner whispers, and how people are more similar than different.

Be Fruitful

She shares ideas around being fruitful and actualizing your story.

She tells us that life should be a verb not a noun.

She quotes Erma Bombeck, a favorite of hers and mine.

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say,
‘I used everything you gave me’. – Erma Bombeck"

Watch and learn. Take a moment to look inward at your own story. You are a wonder, each and every one of you.

Smart Woman Conversations exist to demonstrate the many ways women of all ages can move forward on their path of life, following the experiences of so many women before them. There is a good bit of reinvention in these discussions, and today's talk with Nettie proves that you can take the leap, no matter what age you are. Nettie was 45 when she decided to become an Interfaith Hospital Chaplain. Listen to her story about that journey. Learn more about how scrappy got her the life she'd dreamed of having, as a child.

Find out more about Nettie at the links in this post. Follow her on twitter: @netreynolds and on Facebook at Nettie Writes.

Enjoy. And do share. If it's one thing we women do when we find something we love, it's share. I know you'll love Nettie's conversation, so pass it along.