About Rodica

My contact information: rodimihalis@gmail.com

Education:

M.S. Counseling and Clinical Psychology, Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia.

My areas of interest include:

Complicated loss and grief (including suicide loss), re-define goals at life’s crossroads, living with chronic pain and disability, improve self-confidence and sense of purpose, relationships, gender transition, transgender, gay and bisexual.
B.A. English And Romanian, University of Bucharest, Romania. Bilingual. Author of The Gypsy Saw Two Lives, several award winning poems and The Confidant, a short-short which was selected for Philadelphia’s WritingAloud in 2005.

PA Licensed Esthetician  What does this mean for my readers? I am qualified to give you beauty tips, skin care suggestions, explain cosmetic products and what various ingredients do for your skin type.

Why  the change to The Nude Truth?

Our mission statement says it all…Where we strip life of lies and reveal the truth…

Truth matters and we’ll see to it being shared.

How I became a blogger and didn’t even know its definition…

I broke my ankle on December 9th, 2010, two days before a trip to see my daughter and three days after I moved near Harrisburg from Philadelphia. Suddenly I was faced with spending my Christmas and New Year’s locked alone in an unfamiliar place where I really didn’t want to be in the first place.

I was going crazy, depressed and very bored and decided to go back to writing, my long-time passion for which I never found time. This blog is the result of that fateful accident and a great therapy.

When I first started to write, I  was angry and thought of the role fate played in my life and the much publicized law of attraction and the power of positive thinking. Could I have changed anything? Was I really in control at all times? Why ME??? As I kept writing, another issue, even more controversial,  came to mind, that of being from Europe, an immigrant.  Was being born and raised in another country what made my life different and unique?  Little by little I peeled the layers of appearances and the truth surfaced: The universal human experiences and emotions were by far more significant than where I was born. The pain of living in an alcoholic family, the fears experienced during a deadly earthquake, the hopes, love and disappointments  experienced in relationships, the challenges of single parenthood, the unimaginable confusion over suicide, the survival and fight with prejudice. All these  experiences and the accompanying emotions and pain, make us the human race.

The working title  of my book about to be birthed,  was “Immigrant is just a Word,” but I also like “Memoirs from My Two Lives.”  Not sure which expresses best what I was trying to convey, what made us alike, not different.

Regardless of the title, I was grateful people seem to enjoy my posts and learn how to improve their lives, or rather how to deal with adversity.

While I looked forward to my ankle’s healing, I  continued to write. Back in 2011, I was excited there were 800 views on my blog and positive comments from people I didn’t know. It made me trust I had a message that resonated with many. That realization determined me to turn the posts (which are in chronological order, into chapters of my memoir) into a book…  As I wrote, I re-read old journals, new emotions surfaced and new questionings…each word  I wrote was a part of my soul and the heaviness of so many emotions, once on paper, sat me free!

UPDATE
It is now January 5th, 2015!

So much has happened since I updated “About Rodica”

At the end of 2011, the first 100 posts on this blog became a published book (both paper and e- pub) under the title “The Gypsy Saw Two Lives) The book had excellent reviews both by professional reviewers and the readers (www.amazon.com/books)

In 2014, after my book was published, my blog was awarded a Most Versatile Award by other bloggers when I started to focus on writing about issues which could improve everyone’s life.
It remains a positive, rewarding part of my life, and I treasure and appreciate my followers and readers. It gives me a sense of purpose and joy in helping others, everywhere in the world to deal with a variety of issues and in a materialistic world, where everything costs money, in spite of personal difficulties, this remains a FREE site where people could ask, share stories and get opinions and suggestions on how to improve a situation.

In 2015 the Word Press Report informed us that The Nude Truth was read by people in 134 countries and there are almost 1,500 comments on various topics posted on the blog.
I encourage everyone to SHARE their experiences, ask questions and contact me directly. If I could help, I will, as I am a believer in paying it forward. As others helped me, I help others.

It is now 2016!
Many asked if I am writing another book. The answer is yes, but slowly:) as I continue to navigate life with its many crossroads! My new book will focus on single parenting and what parenting is like when children become adults. Or… is there any parenting once children are adults? Does parenting end when children turn 18? The book’s working title is “Loosing me for you…”

Answering Your Questions:

Thank you so much for your comments and questions.
Some people were happy the site loaded fast, for others it didn’t load as fast, and they were not as happy…
If you  ask me computer related questions, I am sorry to disappoint, but I am not a computer specialist, I am a writer, with training in psychology and aesthetics. I might also be able to answer questions related to cooking and movies.

What I am not is an IT specialist.

If you ask me about tips on how to become a blogger, I could only say, please go to the home page of Word Press and they will walk you through the steps of how to set up a blog and also provide designs for you to select. It is free and I am thankful for all their support.

If you wish to receive our articles click the “subscribe” icon and subscribe with your email address.

The SCOPE of the blog remains versatile, and addresses topics of general interest and suggestions to improve everyone’s daily living. The posts are around 500 words and written in a simple and sometimes humorous way.
This blog is like life itself, sometimes up, other times down…but unlike “life,” ALWAYS STATING THE TRUTH!!!

Thank you for your support and contributing to maintain its high quality.
Your comments and excellent suggestions are appreciated.