Successful Blog

What Chris Cree said . . . About Making a Difference

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A community isn’t built or befriended,
it’s connected by offering and accepting.
Community is affinity, identity, and kinship
that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.
Wherever a community gathers, we aspire and inspire each other intentionally . . . And our words shine with authenticity.

Does It Matter that We’re Here?

So many people are in the world. So many problems large and small. We watch and maybe wonder where we fit, what we might do. So many days it can seem that any effort is sure to fail. How could one person possibly make a difference in the world?

Here’s what Chris Cree said . . .

My suggestion is to start where you are and do what you can.

I’m reminded of the story of the grandfather walking the beach where thousands of starfish had been stranded by the tide. As he walked along he would reach down grab a starfish and toss it back into the sea.

His grandson asked him why he bothered. With all those stranded starfish there was no way he could really make a difference.

As he held up the next starfish the grandfather responded, “To this one starfish I can make all the difference in the world.”

comment on December 27, 2006

A successful and outstanding blogger said that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

What LaurenMarie Said . . . About Authenticity

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A community isn’t built or befriended,
it’s connected by offering and accepting.
Community is affinity, identity, and kinship
that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.
Wherever a community gathers, we aspire and inspire each other intentionally . . . And our words shine with authenticity.

Naturally Authentic

When we’re fully expressed in what we’re doing, talking about it comes naturally. The sounds of our engagement breathe through us. We lean into where we want to be. We’re not changed by who’s watching.

Here’s what LaurenMarie said . . .

I notice with myself that sometimes I am just happy to be excited about what I do and share that with people. I hope that they catch the excitement, too, but I’m not hurt if they don’t.

Other times, I am nervous about telling someone about what I do because of what they will think of me. I know this has to do with me, not them, but I wonder what about me determines those two completely different reactions. I’ll have to observe more closely next time. I definitely like the first way better!

Ari, I like what you said. That is very insightful. hehe, employing tactics to be authentic makes you exactly the opposite, doesn’t it?

LaurenMarie from a comment on July 29, 2008

A successful and outstanding blogger said that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss

Beach Notes: Beach Reunion

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Beach Notes by Guest Writer Suzie Cheel

I have just returned from 2 days at a resort with 3 friends from my high schools days. One friend I had seen earlier this year, one 2 years ago and the other 20 years ago.

Four school friends
Met at a beachside resort
To celebrate a milestone

We walked down memory lane

We relaxed and laughed
Shared good food and wine
Took long beach walks

We looked through
Old school photographs

We shared stories

We have all taken different paths
but never a silence occurred

As if time had stood still…

And yet it hadn’t

True Friendship — priceless.

— Suzie Cheel

What’s priceless in your life?
Suzie Cheel

Why Play the Game, If We Aren’t Playing for Keeps?

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A Story of More than That

I’ve bought five homes. From the time the real estate agent was engaged until the offer was made not one took longer than a week. Two offers were completed in a single day. The real estate agent in Austin told me that in 25 years we were his only clients who actually purchased the house we said we were looking to buy.

I chose my university the same way.

I married my husband 42 days after we met — 24 years and 11 months ago.

My point is I know how to make a decision. I have a good sense of who I am. . . .

Yet I’ve been thinking about redesigning my blog for almost a year. Obviously it wasn’t a case of finding a new template. It’s a story of more than that.

Unwieldy Blog Unwieldy Me

Sometime around last October I realized that my blog had grown unwieldy. People can’t see the content or how it reflects me. The writing blog, the business blog, the branding blog all sit buried beneath pages. That same October, I realized that my personal presentation was in the same unwieldy state of outward presentation.

I took time to map out how to solve the blog problems. I took even longer to work out the same things about me. That done, I started looking for how to get the work done and get my life in order.

I Was in the Game . . . Not Really

Every day, I kept bumping into things that reinforced what I’d learned or suspected. Some incidents were small. Some events were larger.

At SOBCon08, I came face to face with a fact.

I was in the game, but I wasn’t playing with all that was in me.

I looked around and saw I wasn’t the only one that was holding back.

And the question stood in front of me.

Why play the game, if we aren’t playing for keeps?

And it stayed with me.
They have their act together better than I do.
Oh God, another “bad hair day” video.

Why should anyone believe the shoemaker makes fabulous shoes if his own shoes are ratty? The shoemaker ought to be wearing the best shoes in town.

It’s a rationalization, a total disconnect to think otherwise.

Why do we let ourselves off the hook on that?
No famous shoemaker ever wore ratty shoes.

If we’re not the best examples of our own talents, if we’re not walking our values, might as well hang up our uniforms — why would anyone waste good time and money on someone who’s heart isn’t in the game?

This isn’t just about shoes. It’s about people seeing what we can do.

Can people see you?

I’m Getting in the Game for Keeps . . . How About You?

People have relationships with people they can “see” — real people — people they trust. Social networking, social media, social anything is about connecting people with people. It’s relating, showing up, revealing something about the who we are inside.

We trust people whose inside values are visible on the outside.

That means giving a sign that we see them too and understand their values.
Time to quit talking about blogging in our jammies. It doesn’t make sense to people who don’t know our culture.

I’m getting in the game for keeps.
I’m showing up for the people in my life and my business. Gonna let them and you see me learn as well as let ’em see what I already know.

I used to think “Don’t tell ’em, show ’em,” was just a writer’s line.

It’s more. It’s a way of living.

Talk is cheap.
Showing up, showing who we are is relational gold.
If you value people in your life — business, social, friendship, family . . .

It’s okay to let people see you trying.
Trying happens right before succeeding.

How much
can they hear
if what they see
isn’t all that we could show them?

What would be easier if we got the offline world to take the blogosphere seriously?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Beach Notes: Two Words, Many Meanings

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Beach Notes by Guest Writer Suzie Cheel

This morning as we were leaving the beach I noticed that the Morning  Glory was in flower.

Although this is a creeping vine that is often seen as a weed, I love the color and like to see it flowering on dunes at the beach. Sometimes purple, mauve, periwinkle blue, deep aubergine or white.

I then reflected on the name ” morning glory” and know there are many meanings besides the name of the flower.

  • any of the various twining vines that having funnel-shaped flowers that close late in the day
  • a band of clouds
  • a sparkler
  • a wind squall  
  • a horse who performs well in the morning but fails to fire in actual races
  • “Morning Glory” is a song by British rock band Oasis    
  • and many more     – Google definitions

Morning Glory reminds me of the beauty of nature, the varying colors, patterns, textures, the contrasts that I experience each day on my beach walk.

How often do you find two words which separately and together have such rich meanings?

Suzie Cheel

What Vicky said . . . about Building a Dream

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A community isn’t built or befriended,
it’s connected by offering and accepting.
Community is affinity, identity, and kinship
that make room for ideas, thoughts, and solutions.
Wherever a community gathers, we aspire and inspire each other intentionally . . . And our words shine with authenticity.

When Dreams Feel Bigger than We Are

A dream can give a life meaning. But who hasn’t wondered whether we’ll ever reach what we’re after? What do we do when the dream feels bigger than we are?

Here’s what Vicky said . . .

I’ve always found that many times when I am getting down about not completing the “whole picture” of my dream, I break it down into smaller steps. These smaller steps help in several ways, first they get you thinking of the pieces that are needed to form the whole pie, you may get someone who wants to help, then you’ll know the pie piece to give away. When you complete a step it gives you confidence.

We all need a little to see something start, process, and end. There is something very rewarding in that. By only having the one dream at a high level, you are missing out on the little steps that you are accomplishing. Vicky H from a comment on October 1, 2008

A successful and outstanding blogger said that.
–ME “Liz” Strauss