My version of the Fritz family is complete with two dogs and a cat (and Fallon, and …). My brother’s version has a Jack Russell terrier, Skittles, and three fantastic humans I am proud and honored to call family. Here’s Ron and Jan with Justin, graduating from the University of Oregon in 2010, and Randall […]
Archives for January 2011
Daily Rituals with Our Animals: Saving the World One Family at a Time
We start and end the day at our house the same way: in a big pile on the bed while I tell my kids, one by one, with many hugs, how much I love them. And why. Every day. Every night. And I get lots of hugs and kisses in return. What astounds me is […]
Yellowstone Adventures: Moose Kissing Beaver
My friend, Margaret, and I decided to visit Yellowstone together. I can’t get enough of Yellowstone, she’d never been, and we knew between the Park’s bounty, our high spirits, and my clumsiness we’d have adventures. Especially since we had no intention of avoiding any (although Margaret thought seeing Old Faithful once was enough, which is […]
You Are Your Brand: How Being a Lousy Criminal Can Be Good for Business
Yes, being a lousy criminal can be good for our business. Let me explain. We are our brands. As entrepreneurs, as people living our daily lives, everything we do reflects on our business, good, bad, or indifferent. It makes a difference. So how do we make that difference a good one? By always thinking about […]
The Guardians of Alki
Yes, I talk with gardens and the beings who look out for them: where I live, I call them the Guardians of Alki, because Alki Beach is our neighborhood, and the names the guardians have historically been assigned are mean and scary and not worthy of us or them. Besides, at the time it didn’t […]
Is It Weather Worker or Weather Talker? How to Work with Weather
I call myself a weather talker, not a weather worker. There is a difference. A weather worker changes the weather, usually because the weather worker wants to. The weather and the land around it, including the guidance forces that created it, are not always consulted. While many of us can change the weather (yes, change […]
Co-incidence and Community: How A Dog, Three Women, and a Book Saved a Life
Sometimes we wonder if we’ve done the right thing in life. Sometimes we get lucky and know we did, even though we were just trying to get by. Sometimes that story co-incidentally defines another, which is what building community is all about. This is the story of how a chronically ill dog saved another dog […]
Sinking or Swimming While Writing Your Book
The hardest book I’ve ever done? My own. No kidding. Not even the analytical, skeptical, intuitive, optimistic cynic in me saw that one coming. In all the years I’ve written and worked with other authors, nurtured them through the writing and publishing process, never have I had so much trouble! I astonished myself with the […]
What It Means to Talk with All Life
We can all talk with all life, from our food to our cars, animals to plants, businesses to homes, volcanoes to weather systems. Everything you can imagine—and many things you can’t—can speak with us. In fact, they are all already speaking to each other. In fact, the only ones who are not participating in an […]
Talking with Our Businesses: The First Principle
I was surprised when I first spoke intuitively with a business. It just hadn’t occurred to me, even though I knew that everything is alive. Literally. A tricky part is how that reverberates in our lives, or, perhaps, whether we will allow it to. For people the concept that other beings have something to say […]