LIFE
The Price of Kindness
We all know someone who is kindness through and through. I’m sure you can think of a handful of people in your life who exude kindness 24/7. Half a dozen names come to my mind, both men and women, who are shining examples of what it is to be kind. It’s like kindness...
We’re Going to Camp
We signed two contracts for two retreats. The first contract we signed the day before we left and the second one on the DAY we left, right before heading to the airport. Some of our friends were surprised to learn that we booked two different venues. Why not simplify things and have everything at one place? But we have two different groups in mind. The first retreat will be for writers and the second for couples.
Do You Have a Young Reader
This morning my husband and I mentioned to our daughters how much less we see them reading these days. When it comes to our 12-year-old, the reason is clear. She’s addicted to screens. The girl who used to tear through a dozen giant novels per week has tapered off...
The Sweet Life Retreats
Advertising has never been my strong suit. I can create (books, presentations, retreats, you name it), but dear lord don’t ask me to sell it! In the coming months I’m going to have to change that – interact with people I don’t know (gasp!), and communicate the value of what we’ve created: an off-the-beaten-path, unique, luxury experience of a lifetime. This may not be my comfort zone, but I’ve also never been one to shy away from a challenge.
Little Changes
“It’s kind of weird how I spend most of my childhood at school.” Ivy made note of this one morning while checking the clock to be sure she wouldn’t be late for choir practice. It’s true. Kids spend a huge amount of time at school. When we embark on our family travels,...
The Falsehood of Definitions
Instead of being invested in what job a kid will work toward, how about focusing on what really matters? How about letting kids know that when they grow up, what we really want them to BE is happy, healthy, and kind?
Adult(ish)
When I was a kid, I used to think that being an adult involved having lots of plans. Because adults always seemed to know what was going to happen next. Adults fill kids on the plans as it’s time to put them into action. Plans just seemed very adultish. So when I...
Family Camp
We have many friends who would love to attend Couples Camp (and whom we’d love to have join us), but they have young children whom they aren’t comfortable leaving with other caretakers. So we began researching US-based locations for Family Camp. And of course, we want to go big. We’re talking pool, hot tub, water slide, ping-pong, video games, pool table, horseshoes, electronic dart board, a tennis court, all adjacent to a river for kayaking, inner tubes, and paddleboards.
LEGACY
My Mountain
It's frustrating to see someone experience massive results in a short period of time when the rest of us seem to take tiny steps up a decade long mountain. It's the first time authors who find themselves on the Bestseller list for months or years, and the real estate...
Who Are the Heroes in the Room?
Those heroes are going back to their work feeding the hungry, healing the abused, and caring for the most vulnerable people in our society. THAT is the truly amazing work. It’s the work of compassion and determination and a commitment to do the right thing when it would be so much easier to look the other way.
On Purpose
What is purpose? What does it mean to dedicate one’s life to a just cause? I immediately think of a detail from the movie The Professional. In the movie, before Jean Reno’s character gets entangled with Natalie Portman’s character, one really important part of the...
What Is ImpactClub?
By each giving $100, we pool our donations to $23,000. That amount of money can be a game changer for some of the amazing organizations doing good work in our community.
Record Keeping
My daughters periodically ask me to tell them stories about themselves when they were younger. I have a few favorites, like when we came home from a camping trip and Ivy, having grown accustomed to peeing in the wild, dropped her pants to urinate on our front lawn....
Living a Better Story is Easier than Most Realize
When you are not living a good story, you spend a lot of time wondering and hoping you find your purpose, your passion, something meaningful beyond your job, your circumstances. It’s like you feel deep inside you were destined for something more or something bigger, but you just can’t figure out which door to open and which door to shut.
Exit the Road of Regret
After the last real estate crash, I had to rebuild financially. But slowly, I built my real estate business up to a level where it was thriving. I could see the next 10 years. I was in a good spot. I could have stayed on that road, hit cruise control, and had a pretty...
Veterans Day, 2019
On the 4th of July, he was in his final days. My sister and I later learned that we’d both been hoping he would pass then, because he probably would’ve wanted it that way.
LIVELIHOOD
A Gift and A Curse
An entrepreneur, by nature, see’s opportunity wherever they go. This is me. When I travel, one of my favorite things to do as I enjoy time outside of the daily grind is to simply open my eyes to opportunity. Sure enough, every town, every restaurant, every beach my...
No Such Thing As Stuck
Emilia’s first sales pitch was to basically bully people. She’d get right up in their faces and demand to know if they’d buy. “You want to buy some cotton candy? Do you? DO YOU?” I’ve never seen so many adults get scared of a twelve-year-old girl.
Doubt
When you don't have predictable income as an entrepreneur, doubt will f*ck with your mind. Doubt clouds our better judgment. Doubt is often the cause of many entrepreneurs who continue to chase after new and different shiny objects. Some entrepreneurs get bored...
All Figured Out
When you first come into adulthood, I there’s a tendency to think, “Yes, things change along the way. But NOW I have it all figured out.” Or, “I may not have it figured out now, but I will by the time I’m 25… or 30… or 40. Yes, 40 for sure.” There’s a certain freedom that comes along with realizing you’ll never have it all figured out. And that’s okay. You’re not supposed to.
Two Birds, One Stone
We all know the phrase, “Kill two birds with one stone.” (Also, don’t throw stones at birds, that’s really a jerk thing to do.) But in general, efficiency is a good thing and we can all look for ways to accomplish multiple goals with one action in various aspects of...
The Falsehood of Definitions
Instead of being invested in what job a kid will work toward, how about focusing on what really matters? How about letting kids know that when they grow up, what we really want them to BE is happy, healthy, and kind?
On Work
I’ve had a lot of jobs in the past thirty years. Some are fairly typical: babysitter, hostess, waitress, office-type work with its accompanying office politics. The less common employment includes Bingo the Clown, farmhand on a farm in West Virginia, a short stint...
If You Build It, They Will Come… Not Actually True
I see a lot of people publish their books and then not understand why everyone they know isn’t scrambling to buy a copy. That’s just not how it works. And when writers fail to understand this(and accept it), they turn bitter.