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Kim Langley

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

https://www.WordSPA.net/

Twitter

#KimALangley

Genre

Psychology, Self Help, Religion

Influences

https://www.ted.com/speakers/anne_lamott
And
https://us.macmillan.com/au ...more

Member Since

September 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/vorkosinut

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Kim Langley: The Unvarnished Truth

A package arrived from California (a mythical land to a girl from Pittsburgh) when I turned eight. Aunt Viola Buehler had mailed Louis Untermeyer’s The Golden Treasury of Poetry. When not being told to get off the couch and get my nose OUT of that book, I was reading the good stuff over and over, everything from nonsense verses, to ballads, and of course The Highwayman. From The Highwayman I learned that the moon could be “a ghostly galleon, tossed upon cloudy seas”. The rest was history.

Fast forward 30 plus years, and I am leading poetry circles for mindful conversation. Over and over people entered with their shoulders hunched up around their ears, cowering and fearful that they wouldn’t get it. “I don’t Kim Langley: The Unvarnished Truth

A package arrived from California (a mythical land to a girl from Pittsburgh) when I turned eight. Aunt Viola Buehler had mailed Louis Untermeyer’s The Golden Treasury of Poetry. When not being told to get off the couch and get my nose OUT of that book, I was reading the good stuff over and over, everything from nonsense verses, to ballads, and of course The Highwayman. From The Highwayman I learned that the moon could be “a ghostly galleon, tossed upon cloudy seas”. The rest was history.

Fast forward 30 plus years, and I am leading poetry circles for mindful conversation. Over and over people entered with their shoulders hunched up around their ears, cowering and fearful that they wouldn’t get it. “I don’t understand poetry. I just came because my friend brought me.” Then 2 hours later they exit wheedling the date of the next gathering from me and asking “When can we do this again!?”

Because I am not entirely clueless, my heart could not help but notice the joy of participants integrating parts of the self, and finding words for thoughts and feeling that they had been unable to express.

Finding myself at a conference on using poetry in ministry, I was sitting with strangers around the lunch table when someone asked-- “What brings you here?” I rattled on about poetry circles and the alchemy that happens there, and she popped the question: “Do you have any poems about grief?” Do I have any poems about grief! One of the lame jokes among poets is that every poem ever written could be lumped under five themes, and one of those is grief. So yes. She turned out to be a representative of Paraclete Press.

That’s when Send My Roots Rain was born.

Kim lives in Ohio with her family of teachers, a librarian and business owner, a software engineer.

When not leading poetry circles through www.WordSPA.net, or chained to the laptop, she’s self employed as a speaker and coach at www.KimLangley.net.

She enjoys a good workout in her huge flower garden, and sneaking treats to Tucker, the doggie who wooed and won her heart.
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Average rating: 4.69 · 54 ratings · 25 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Send My Roots Rain: A Companion on the Grief Journey 4.67 avg rating — 52 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Joshua Appleby and The Flaming Sword (1) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Joshua Appleby and the ruby dragon it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The flaming sword: An enchanting YA coming-of-age tale. 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The ruby dragon: The Ruby Dragon is the breath-taking second book in the Earth Magic Chronicles YA fantasy series 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Kim Langley liked a quote “When young we think there will come one person who will savor and sustain us always; when we are older we know this is the dream of a child, that all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scored and torn, repaired by time and will, patched by force of character, yet fragile and rickety forevermore, no matter how ferocious the defense and how many bricks you bring to the wall.” Brian Doyle
Jul 07, 2025 11:15AM · like · more quotes by Brian Doyle
Kim Langley liked a quote “Our hearts are not pure: our hearts are filled with need and greed as much as with love and grace, and we wrestle with our hearts all the time. The wrestling is who we are. How we wrestle is who we are. What we want to be is never what we are. Not yet. Maybe that's why we have these relentless engines in our chests, driving us forward toward what we might be." Orion (Jan/Feb 2005)” ...more Brian Doyle
Jul 07, 2025 11:14AM · like · more quotes by Brian Doyle

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“Now, there's this about cynicism, Sergeant. It's the universe's most supine moral position. Real comfortable. If nothing can be done, then you're not some kind of shit for not doing it, and you can lie there and stink to yourself in perfect peace.”
― Lois McMaster Bujold, Miles Errant

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― Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign

tags: inspirational, sci-fi, vorkosigan

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“Or you might shout at the top of your lungs or whisper into your sleeve, "I hate you, God." That is a prayer too, because it is real, it is truth, and maybe it is the first sincere thought you've had in months.”
― Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers

tags: god, prayer, truth

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“But grace can be the experience of a second wind, when even though what you want is clarity and resolution, what you get is stamina and poignancy and the strength to hang on.”
― Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers

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