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Rachel Hunt Steenblik founded the TinyKindness movement in 2019 as a natural extension to her work in feminism and philosophy. She is currently a professor of Philosophy teaching undergraduate courses at Kean University at the campus in Wenzhou, China. Rachel's work focuses primarily on women, mothers, and the power and importance of telling true stories. She authored Mother's Milk: Poems in Search of Heavenly Mother and I Gave Her a Name with By Common Consent Press and co-edited Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings with Joanna Brooks and Hannah Wheelwright for Oxford University Press. She previously wrote for the Exponent Blog, and completed PhD coursework in philosophy of religion and theology at Claremont Graduate University, and has a Masters in library and information science from Simmons University and a bachelors in philosophy from Brigham Young University.

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I was in Utah recently, my 11 year old niece did two very sweet things for me, which I documented on Facebook. The first was that on a day she spied me crying, she made my bed and lined up all of mine and my children's shoes, in addition to giving me a big hug and telling me she loved me. The second was that on a day my throat started hurting, she made me tea with lemon and honey. The trick was that she had never made tea before, and cut the little packet open and dumped the herbs straight in. It was so kind that she tried, that I didn't even mind. (My sister can attest that I took whole gulps anyway.) My friend, Loyd, also thought the latter was sweet and commented that he would being willing to read a book with just that story in it. It made me realize, I would be, too.

#TinyKindness.org

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Rachel Hunt Steenblik and Ashley Mae Hoiland are pilgrims, dreamers, ex plorers in search of our Heavenly Mother and the country where she dwells. Together they have created a record of their journey, an exploration in visual and literary art, of their search. They search everywhere—looking back at mothers and grandmothers and forward to mothering their own daughters and sons. They consider giving birth, nursing, and nurturing children as experiences women share with their Mother. They examine seasons, maple trees, the moon, dragonflies, spiders, bears and eagles as metaphors for Her beauty, fierceness, and power. They re-read, re-write, and re-interpret scripture to apply to women as well as men. They consider Eve, Mary, Emmeline, Emma, Sophia, Penelope, Hannah, and many other women for clues. They learn individual lessons about Mother from a broad community of friends, family, writers, and poets (the sources are indicated in page after page of notes at the end of the collection). Hoiland’s drawings, evocative in both line and color, invite a deeper and prolonged attention to Hunt Steenblik’s poems. These two fine artists attempt to reach through language and visual art toward spiritual truth.That attempt requires openness, simplicity, repetition, pauses, and space for the reader. This is a book to read slowly, to consider, to savor. The gifts it offers will last.—Susan Elizabeth Howe, co-editor of Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems y Mormon Women and author of Salt

For this book, Rachel Hunt-Steenblik wrote 246 small poems exploring aspects of our Heavenly Mother. And BCC’s own Ashley Mae Hoiland complemented these poems with more than 40 original drawings. The result is an intimate discussion of the deep human longing for a Mother God. 

Carol Lynn Pearson, whose pioneering work created the space, that “Mother’s Milk” occupies, calls this collection “a major step toward filling the Mother-sized hole in our hearts.” And Joanna Brooks predicts that it “will teach the world what Mormon women know—perhaps uniquely—about God.” Here is just a taste of what you will find in this remarkable book:

 

Motherless Milk

I searched for my Mother, the way a baby roots for her mother’s breast, head nuzzling from side to side, mouth open, ready to suckle. But I was still thirsty. Then my belly grew, and my breasts grew, and a ravenous little thing came out. I offer her my milk without money and without price. My husband offered it to her once, while I sat beside them on a train. She pursed her lips against the false nipple, and stared at me with sad eyes. I wondered then, if Heavenly Mother walked into another room so we would take the bottle. I wondered then, if we are weaned.

Praise for Mother's Milk:

In these brief and moving poems, Rachel Hunt Steenblik recalls and reimagines the relationship between the daughters of God and their hidden and distant mother. Using her own experience and revelation as well as her wide research, Rachel recreates the Heavenly Mother many dream of knowing, a woman not unlike our own mothers, one who shares our own experience of motherhood." —Claudia L. Bushman, author of Contemporary Mormonism


"The warm, delicious, delicate and strong poems in Mother’s Milk moved and delighted me. Without doubt this book is a major step toward filling the Mother-sized hole in our hearts. Boldly pulling back the curtain of patriarchy to show that “God” is not a boy’s name and that we have never lived in a one-parent family, Rachel reminds us that our Mother has never ceased to nourish and love us." —Carol Lynn Pearson, author of Mother Wove the Morning, and The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy

 

"Rachel Hunt Steenblik is Mormonism's most essential and necessary poet since Carol Lynn Pearson.  Out of her hunger for a mother God, she has made food for us all.  Out of her losses, she has made milk.  It's what women's bodies know how to do, of course.  But Rachel, oh honey, few of us do it so openly, so truthfully, so plainly, so well.  Come, come, everyone--Mormon or not, brothers, sisters, kindred--and take these words.  I am so proud that this book will teach the world what Mormon women know--perhaps uniquely--about God." —Joanna Brooks, author of Book of Mormon Girl


"Love depends on this kind of ordinary, practical, moral creativity. Love depends on learning how to bend our ordinary lives—like a poet bends and saves ordinary words—into creative and morally responsive shapes.
On page after page of her book, Mother’s Milk: Poems in Search of Heavenly Mother,  I watched Rachel Hunt Steenblik do this. Perfectly paired with Ashley Mae Hoiland’s striking drawings, I watched poem after poem practice this kind of moral creativity as part of the work of love." –Adam Miller, author of Letters to a Young Mormon
 

"Mother's Milk is wonderful. For me, its strength and beauty lies in the way it accepts the mystery of the feminine divine while simultaneously and confidently asserting that this mystery should no longer be relegated. In this way, the book reminds me of Emily Dickinson's line to 'tell all the truth but tell it slant,' which is the task of all good poetry and the task that Mother's Milk magnificently accomplishes. In addition, I love the way the endnotes highlight just how present the concept of Heavenly Mother has been within Mormonism, even if the mainstream culture so often fails to acknowledge this presence. Altogether, Mother's Milk is much needed addition to the Mormon canon. I hope it paves the way for similar projects to come." –Jon Ogden, author of When Mormons Doubt: A Way to Save Relationships and Seek a Quality Life

 

"Mormon women are strong; you don't walk a thousand miles across unfamiliar land into an arid valley you've never seen unless you've got the guts for it. Today's Mormon women evidence that same strength in coming together to demand acknowledgement of the feminine contribution to our existence. Rachel Hunt Steenblik's lovely and evocative book 'Mother's Milk' is a modern trek: a search for our Heavenly Mother, lost to theology but always present, waiting to comfort and consult. In this series of simple short poems She offers Her love and advice, Her songs, the comfort of Her arms, and in the end we are left feeling that accepting Her presence could go a long way toward curing the world's ills." –Claire Whitaker, author of "Hide and Seek," in Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings 
 


"Truly a lovely exploration of the feminine divine and our everyday relationship with Her. I've got two daughters, 8 and 5. Both have loved reading the poems with me. While some of the concepts are beyond their reach, the book is one of many things in their lives right now helping them understand that the Heavenly Mother never is. All the stars, all the time for this one. I'll be buying more copies to give out as gifts." –Megan Conley, writer at meganconley.com

 

"A beautiful, poignant collection of poems. Frequently brought tears to my eyes with its longing and reaching for Heavenly Mother and the divine feminine. There's a personal and intimate connection with the divine present here that may not always be what my connection is or hopes to be, but is unabashedly Rachel's, modeling one path to strive towards the divine feminine. Ashmae's illustrations are a perfect accompaniment for Rachel's poetry—close, intimate, personal, and snuggly (you can almost cuddle up with them). The poems are brief snapshots, capturing moments and reworking familiar phrases, narratives, verses, ideas to include or focus on Heavenly Mother. I'm left hungry for more. I want to create & find my own connection to Heavenly Mother, to write my way there. Rachel gave me a delicious taste of that possibility here." –Conor Hilton, writer at conorhilton.wordpress.com

Amazon Reviews

 

 

"Spanning the Second Wave to the present wave of the women's movement, these essays constitute a significant body of work on the religious implications of feminism. Their usual omission from feminist and Mormon history makes collection of them here all the more welcome and necessary. They are, indeed, 'essential.' The study of contemporary Mormonism should not be attempted without them." -Kathleen Flake, Richard Lyman Bushman Professor of Mormon Studies, University of Virginia

"The depth and breadth of Mormon feminist thought assembled in this volume will bring awareness to some and enlightenment to many. So much that has been thought and felt among Mormon women is here for reflection, reference and discussion. This book will enrich the legacy we treasure and point us to a proud future." -Aileen Hales Clyde, Counselor, Relief Society General Presidency, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (1990-1997)

"Can one be a Mormon and a feminist? Through the careful combing of historical and modern Mormon feminist writings, the complexity of what it means to be an equal-minded, intelligent woman in a patriarchal church is here presented in its hopeful, heartbreaking, faithful entirety. Though the answer is complicated, this book honors those who have bravely and eloquently added their voices to the movement. As a church we owe these women-their words and work-much recognition for their progress and perspective." -C. Jane Kendrick, writer at cjanekendrick.com

"As Mormonism continues its evolution as a force in American public religious life, this needed compendium will help characterize this uniquely American faith." --Publishers Weekly

Updates

You don't have to be perfect. 💛 "As an LDS missionary I was having a very hard time training a new Elder. I constantly felt like a failure, never measuring up. A wise friend and mentor took me aside after I had been short-tempered and said, 'yo
This is such a beautiful and important one. 💛 "A few years ago, I called my parents sobbing letting them know that marriage was basically falling apart. I was 8 months pregnant and living states away from them. Without hesitation, my dad called
A perfect response. 💛 "When I was sixteen years old, I totaled the family van when I accidentally smashed it into the back of my dad's truck in the driveway. I gunned the wrong pedal. I was in shock and filled with immediate dread. Sobbing unco
So sweet. 💛 "I had to move my junior year of high school and I wasn’t making friends very quickly, so I spent a lot of my time just at home with my dad and my dog. Around Halloween my dad let me know about a haunted house that was popular
She added in a follow-up message that he did all this while she was one of five kids! 💗💛 "When I was in the 7th grade Les Miserables came to Salt Lake City for the very first time. My friend and I were already OBSESSED with the soundtrack, and
This is SO pure 💗. An extended dad network. 🚘💛 "One time I had a flat tire and I was FaceTiming my dad to help me change it when another guy pulled over with some kids in the car and said “I would want someone to help my daughters&rdquo
Shared with permission from her sweet friend. 💛 "My sweet friend is going through the nastiest divorce right now. Her father (who is older and at risk of COVID) drives over 100 miles multiples times a week to her house to help with her kid
Yes. Very sweet. 💛 "My dad came up to visit us sometime after our wedding during a really chaotic time in his life. he saw our half painted kitchen, went to home depot and bought the proper tools, and finished painting our whole kitchen for us
Still sharing some father/father figure kindnesses and this one comes from my own sister about our father. 💛 "One morning the lights in the laundry room went out. My dad, or Bapa as he’s called by his 17 grandchildren, went to switch out
This one is from a good friend, who I know himself to be a very good father. 💛 "A few years back, as my family and I prepared to move our young family from Virginia to Philadelphia, my dad insisted on flying out to help, the same as he had done
What a tender act at such a difficult time. 😭💛 "My wife and I had a small, informal graveside service for our baby after she miscarried. Most of this time is a blur to me now but I do remember talking for a few minutes to the small group of fr
Wow. 📘😭💛 "When my dad realized his cancer was terminal, he recorded himself reading a Christmas story to his grandkids (who were babies at the time.) 16 years later, we still listen to that tape every X-mas Eve; it helps my kids to “rem
So meaningful. 💛 "I was planting beans in my dad’s garden one day when I realized that I had misread the instructions. I sheepishly admitted my error and he simply smiled and said, 'don’t worry, there are no mistakes in my garden.'
I love this. 💛 "When I was a sophomore in college, my roommate and I decided to spend reading days in Las Vegas. We were driving back to campus the Sunday before finals when her car broke down in Beaver, Utah. I called my dad, who lived in SLC
I love her. 🍫💛 "I live with depression and anxiety and my first semester of school was very difficult from me. One day, I was in a rather large class with assigned seating when I started to have a panic attack. I quickly packed my things and h
"This radically changed my sense of acceptance." 🇻🇳💛 "I was performing in an opera orchestra in Vietnam for six weeks, as a student intern, and near the end of my stay, I went to a party being thrown for the orchestra. The few membe
So significant. 💛 "I love mothering teenagers but sometimes I wonder if they will ever be productive adults. One of them was especially challenging. Several times over his high school years I had other adults in his life go out of their way to
"A small gesture." 🙏💛 "Seven months into my LDS mission, I received an email from home informing me that my younger sister, who had been born with a heart defect, had been told she was going to need open heart surgery. I was scared a
Oh, my whole heart. 😭❤️ 💛 "When my little brother was in 1st grade he was diagnosed with an extremely rare and deadly form of childhood brain cancer called DIPG. He was given 6 months to live and we were told his chance of survival was 2%. Thi
The sweet mama shared in a follow-up, "Writing this out made me emotional all over again. Honestly this story isn't about the money and that's why I love it so. We're okay financially but I miss my kiddo like crazy and I'm glad that others think

Upcoming EVENTS

Please see my social media outlets for more information.

Please consider hosting an event in your area.

Past EVENTS

 

Monday, July 8, 2019 at 8:00 pm in MDT

A Night with Rachel Hunt Steenblik, author of Mother’s Milk and I Gave Her a Name

and Kathryn Knight Sonntag, author of The Tree at the Center

Provo, UT – Womb Sisters

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Friday, July 5, 2019 at 7:00 pm in MDT

The Power and Vulnerability of Poetry:

Shades of Becoming and I Gave Her a Name

St. George, UT

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Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 7:00 pm in MDT

Readings by Keira Shae, Mette Harrison, Rachel Hunt Steenblik,

Steven Peck, Kathryn Knight Sonntag, and Darlene Young of BCC Press

Ultraviolet Studios – 2204 Washington Blvd Suite B, Ogden, UT 84401

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Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 7:00 pm in MDT

Four Variations on Voice

Writ & Vision – 74 W Center St, Provo, UT 84601

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Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 3:00 pm in PST

We Gave Her a Place: Poetry of Heavenly Mother Panel

Association for Mormon Letters – 2368 Le Conte Avenue Berkeley, CA 94709

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Friday, March 29, 2019 at 7:00 pm in PST

Carol Lynn Pearson Panel

Association for Mormon Letters – 2368 Le Conte Avenue Berkeley, CA 94709

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Friday, March 8, 2019 at 1:30 pm Beijing Time

Heavenly Mother in Latter-day Saint Poetry

Asia Women’s Conference – 118 Gloucester Rd, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, China

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Friday, February 15, 2019 at 2:30 pm Beijing Time

The Poetry of Process and the Process of Poetry

Before the Masterpiece – Michael Graves College, Wenzhou-Kean University, Wenzhou, China

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Monday, October 8, 2018

Divine Feminine in Poetry

Feminist FHE – Provo, UT

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Thursday, October 4, 2018

Mother’s Milk and Model Mormon Reading

Salt Lake City, UT

England Hansen Residence

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Tuesday, September 28, 2018

Telling our Own Stories: Mother’s Milk and Model Mormon

for BYU US Women’s History and History of Transnational Feminism students, Provo, UT

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Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 7:00 pm

Where We Must Stand

Contravent – 916 S Main St, Salt Lake City, UT 84101

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Friday, August 24, 2018 at 6:30 pm

Mother’s Milk: Reading and Discussion

Anthony’s Fine Art and Antiques – 401 E 200 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

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June 2018

Cracks of Light in the Darkness: Meditations on the Feminine Divine

Allegheny Pilgrims, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

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Sunday, May 13 2018

Divine Feminine in Poetry

Cambridge, MA

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Sunday, April 15, 2018 at 12:00 pm EST

Balance Breakout Session: Mormon Feminism

Reason and Revelation Conference - Columbia University, New York, NY

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Sunday, April 15, 2018 at 11:00 am EST

Radiant Mormonism: Arts and Humanities Panel

Reason and Revelation Conference - Columbia University, New York, NY

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March 2018

Killing Off ‘Footprint in the Sand’: Finding Metaphor in Mormon Poetry Panel

Mormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

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Mother’s Milk Reading, Potomac, Maryland, November 2017.

“Reviewing the in-dwelling Feminine Divine,” God, Faith, Women, and Church: Feminist Spiritual Formation, Case Agency, New York, NY, November 2017.

“Bringing Heavenly Mother into Daily Life,” The Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, Exponent Retreat, Greenfield, New Hampshire, September 2017.

New Books by Mormon Women with Rachel Hunt Steenblik, Ashley Mae Hoiland, Mette Harrison, and Melissa Larson, Writ & Vision, Provo, Utah, July 2017.

..

Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 7:00 pm in EST 

Book Club

New Haven, CT 06519 – The Thurston Residence

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Sunday, October 8, 2017 at 7:00 pm in EST [Tentative Date]

Second Sunday

Prentiss St., Cambridge, MA 02140 - The Ulrich Residence

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Sunday, November 12, 2017 at 7:00 pm in EST [Tentative Date]

DC area gathering– Mother's Milk and The Burning Point with Tracy McKay

Signal Tree Lane Potomac, MD 20854 - The Prince Residence

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All Good Books

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Sunday, July 30, 2017 at 6:00 pm in MDT

Mother's Milk Poems Dessert Potluck

200 S, Provo, Utah 84601 – The Goldsberry Residence

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Tuesday, July 25, 2017 at 7:00 pm in MDT

 New Books by Mormon Women with Rachel Hunt Steenblik, Ashley Mae Hoiland,

Mette Harrison, and Melissa Larson at Writ & Vision

74 W Center St, Provo, UT 84601

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Friday, April 8, 2016 at 7:00 pm in EST

Rachel Hunt Steenblik and Judith Dushku at Porter Square Books

25 White St, Cambridge, MA 02140

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Saturday, February 27, 2016 at 10:00 am in PST

Rachel Hunt Steenblik at Menlo Park Stake Women's Conference

1105 Valparaiso Avenue, Menlo Park, CA 94025

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Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 8:00 pm in EST

Mormon Feminism Book Event with Rachel Hunt Steenblik

Sheldon Terrace, New Haven, CT 06511

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Sunday, December 13, 2015 at 7:00 pm in EST

Second Sunday

Prentiss St., Cambridge, MA 02140 - The Ulrich Residence

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Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 7:00 pm in EST

New York area gathering- Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings book event!

390 Broadway, New York, NY 10013 - Case Agency

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Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 7:00 pm in EST

DC area gathering- Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings book event!

Signal Tree Lane Potomac, MD 20854 - The Prince Residence

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Saturday, November 21, 2015 at 7:00 pm in EST

Fireside with the editors of Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings
Vassar Road, Alexandria, VA 22314

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Friday, November 20, 2015 at 7:00 pm in EST

All Good Books

Side Saddle Road, Springfield, VA 22152

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Thursday, October 29, 2015 at 7:00pm in MDT

Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings - An Evening with the Editors at Writ & Vision

74 W Center St, Provo, Utah 84601

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Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 5:30pm in MDT

Mormon Feminism: Essential Writings presentation and discussion! at Benchmark Books

3269 S Main St, Ste 250, Salt Lake City, Utah 84115

 

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Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 6:00pm in MDT

The editors of MORMON FEMINISM: ESSENTIAL WRITINGS at Weller Book Works

607 Trolley Sq, Salt Lake City, Utah 84102

 

 

Please let us know if, there is INTEREST or you are able to host/support an event for the book in your area.