Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Family & Friends, Identity, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Sandwich Generation, Work, Writing, tagged blogging, epiphany, family, Gretchen Rubin, life-changing, profound truth, refrain, The days are long but the years are short, The Happiness Project, writing on June 8, 2013 | 14 Comments »
Lately something’s been stuck in my head, like a snippet of a song’s refrain playing over and over again. It’s as if I have my own chorus – although it’s actually more like a soloist, with a deep, resonant voice – repeating the phrase in an ongoing loop. It’s to the point where it has taken […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Global Issues, Identity, Repatriation, Third Culture Kids (TCKs), Expat Teens, Writing, tagged Ann Baker Cottrell, Anne Copeland, Apple Gidley, call to action, Colleen Reichrath-Smith, creative, cross-cultural, Cultural Integration and the Illusion of Closeness, cultural intelligence, culture, culture shock, doers, Duncan Westwood, Elizabeth Vennekens-Kelly, emotional intelligence, emotional resilience, expat life, expatriate life, expatriation, experiences, Families in Global Transitions, FIGT, FIGT 2013, ideas, innovative, insight, intercultural, international, Janet Bennett, Jo Parfitt, Judy Rickatson, Julia Simens, Kathleen Gamble, Katia Vachlos, Kilian Kroll, Laura J. Stephens, Leila Buck, living abroad, Maria Foley, networking, Norm Viss, perspective, Pico Iyer, projects, Rachel Yates, Rebecca Grappo, Repatriation, research, Ruth Van Reken, social intelligence, TCKs, topics, transition process, Trisha Carter on March 30, 2013 | 4 Comments »
Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend the annual Families in Global Transition conference (aka on Twitter as #FIGT2013). The theme this year was ‘Cultural Integration and the Illusion of Closeness.’ It was, in a word, exhilarating. Inspiring. Tremendous. Thought-provoking. Reassuring. Okay, it was many words, all those and more. Two thought-laden days dedicated to exchanging […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Emotional Resilience, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Writing, tagged Aerosmith, author, Back in the Saddle Again, blogging, book, books, business cards, cover design, cover mock-ups, crying, done, editing, emotional, emotional resilience, FIGT 2013, final, ISBN, Jane Dean, Jo Parfitt, layout, Lemonberry.com, Lisa Hall, nonfiction, printing, publishing process, recalcitrant, regular blogging schedule, Stephen Tyler, Summertime Publishing, testimonials, writing, writing routine on March 27, 2013 | 18 Comments »
I have been thinking about this post for days, weeks, even months. I’ve longed to be able to write it, but made myself wait. There were times I never thought this day would arrive. Now that it’s here, my thoughts are a (barely) coherent mess and the words are tumbling out on the page. Well alrighty […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Blogging, Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, United States, Writing, tagged Amazing Things Will Happen, anger, arguing, automatic weapons, blogging, CC Chapman, community, Connecticut, Content Rules, creativity, frailest citizens, frustration, Geoff Talbot, Grace and Creativity, grieving parents, gun control, gunman, heart, In Need of Grace, innocent children, media, mental illness, mind, Newton, outrage, pontificating, positioning, Sandy Hook Elementary School, school shooting, schoolchildren, screaming, Seven Sentences, shooter, shouting, slaughter, soul, stillness, weakest, writing, yelling on December 18, 2012 | 10 Comments »
It’s been a busy few weeks lately with more than the usual ups and downs, ins and outs, whethers or buts, what ifs and why nots. I’ve been dealing with an amalgam of diverse issues, activities, and events ranging from the mundane to the weighty, the tedious to the tentative, the banal to the seemingly […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Blogging, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Life Balance, Light Bulb Moments, Travel, Writing, tagged A Tight Wide-Open Space, Aegean Sea, author, blogging, books, creativity, culture, epic voyage, expat, Facebook, Heathen Pilgrim, HeathenPilgrim.com, Iran, journey, Kickstarter.com, Kusadasi, Matt Krause, Soapbox, travel, trek, turkey, Twitter, video, writer, writing, writing projects on September 1, 2012 | 5 Comments »
Today is September 1st and I’m sooo excited! Not because it’s the first day of September, although I must say that autumn is my favorite season and I’m very partial to this month. Just a few moments ago, Matt Krause – writer, traveler, former expat and Heathen Pilgrim – took his first steps on his long […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Travel, Writing, tagged BigThink.com, creative thinking, creativity, CreativityPost.com, crosscultural life, culture, culture and creativity, different cultures, expat, findings, foreign travel, immersion in a foreign culture, Indiana University, intern abroad, Jia et al., Lee, Linderholm, Maddux and Galinsky, Northwestern University, out-of-the-box thinking, problem-solving, research, research studies, Sam McNerney, solutions, study abroad, study abroad and creativity, Therriault, Tom Jacobs, travel abroad, travel overseas, University of Florida at Gainesville on August 29, 2012 | 10 Comments »
Lots of interesting news in the psychological research arena these days, particularly with regard to possible links between studying abroad and creativity. According to Sam McNerney’s article yesterday on BigThink.com on Why Traveling Abroad Makes Us More Creative (Part II) first up was a 2009 series by researchers at Northwestern University (Maddux and Galinsky) which found that […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Life Balance, United States, Work, Writing, tagged begin with the end in mind, blueprint for life, business, culture, first things first, leadership, life lessons, management, proactive, seek first to understand, selfhelp, sharpen the saw, Stephen Covey, success, synergize, team-building, team-leading, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, win-win, writing on July 18, 2012 | 16 Comments »
I was saddened to hear the news that Stephen Covey, author of the groundbreaking bestseller of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, had passed away. Covey, a university business/leadership professor and founder of an entire empire of subsequent books, high profile speaking engagements, widely acclaimed seminars and associated business tools (Franklin-Covey), was 79 when he died of […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Change, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Identity, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged Anne P. Copeland, change, cultural adjustments, cultural dimensions, cultural sensitivity, cultural transitions, culture shock, expat transitions, identity, In Their Own Voice: Intercultural Meaning in Everyday Stories, Marissa Lombardi, The Interchange Institute, writing on April 18, 2012 | 6 Comments »
Earlier this year I read what I can only describe as an incredibly uplifting book, but I am only now getting around to sharing it with you. Shame on me, because it is the kind of informative, thought-provoking book that stays on your mind long after you read it. Its name? In Their Own Voice: […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Change, Doing What I Can to Help, Global Issues, tagged A Walk Across the Sun, action, change agent, Corban Addison, human condition, human trafficking, International Justice Mission, John Grisham, pain, slavery, suffering, victims on January 11, 2012 | 6 Comments »
When I sat down to write this morning, I was all set to tell a different story. That is, until I saw this video. It’s a short trailer of Corban Addison discussing his new book A Walk Across the Sun. Set primarily in India, Addison’s novel addresses the issue of human trafficking. The plot centers […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Riveting Expat Reads, Writers on Writing, Writing, tagged A Tight Wide-open Space: Finding Love in a Muslim Land, author, book, Delridge Press, Matt Krause, stories, turkey, writing on December 9, 2011 | 12 Comments »
Is it any wonder that writers read and readers often write? We enjoy getting lost between the pages of a book, drawn into the world created by the author. We’re enthralled with the intoxicating power of the written word. One of the best books I had the pleasure of encountering this year was A […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Expat Transitions & Change, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged A Tight Wide-open Space: Finding Love in a Muslim Country, author, culture shock, expat life, living abroad, Matt Krause, writing on October 10, 2011 | 14 Comments »
Recently I had the opportunity to read the latest book by author Matt Krause, a mid-life memoir entitled A Tight Wide-open Space: Finding Love in a Muslim Land (Delridge Press, 2011). Matt was a happily single, well-traveled, successful thirty-something businessman living in Seattle when he encountered a beautiful, intriguing woman on a flight from California to Hong […]
Posted in Adventures Big & Small, Authors (Other), Change, Creativity, Culture, Crosscultural, Intercultural & Multicultural, Expat Authors & Others, Expat Life, Riveting Expat Reads, Writing, tagged author, fiction, inspiration, Jo Parfitt, Non-fiction, novel, realizing a dream, Summertime Publishing, Sunshine Soup, writing on October 2, 2011 | 18 Comments »
Each of us harbors a dream, a fiercely held flame of hope and desire that burns quietly yet brightly deep within us. It can be something we’d like to do or see or experience, someone we’ve always wanted to meet, somewhere we really want to visit. Or something we create. Often we hold it as a secret. […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Guest Posts, Work, Writers on Writing, Writing, Writing Business Bits at Jo Parfitt's, tagged authors, book marketing, Book Marketing Conference Online, D'vorah Lansky, Jo Parfitt, Joanna Penn, writing and social media, Writing Business Bits on August 11, 2011 | 5 Comments »
Hey there. Today I’m over at expat publisher Jo Parfitt’s site in a new feature we’re calling Writing Business Bits. Based on the positive response to my recent three-part guest post about Jack Canfield’s insights on book marketing and promotion, Jo has asked me to contribute a series of monthly posts. Topics will focus on how […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Guest Posts, Work, Writers on Writing, Writing, Writing Business Bits at Jo Parfitt's, tagged author, Benjamin Franklin, bypass marketing, Chicken Soup for the Soul, continual learning, giving, Jack Canfield, Jo Parfitt, Mark Victor Hansen, RTIR, Scott Peck, social media, speaker, Steve Harrison, The Road Less Traveled, writing, Writing Business Bits at Jo Parfitt's on July 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Recently I was guest posting over at Jo Parfitt’s website again, finishing the last in a three-part series on Steve Harrison’s (of Radio/Television Interview Report) interview with mega-selling author and co-founder of the Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise, Jack Canfield. I enjoy listening to such ‘webinars’ (web seminars) to glean the nuggets of wisdom, experience, […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Guest Posts, Work, Writers on Writing, Writing, Writing Business Bits at Jo Parfitt's, tagged author, Bob Burg, Chicken Soup for the Soul, giving, Jack Canfield, Jo Parfitt, John David Mann, Malcolm Gladwell, Mark Victor Hansen, network, RTIR, speaker, Steve Harrison, The Go Giver, The Tipping Point, writing on June 14, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The other day Jo Parfitt ran the second of my guest posts in a three-part series about ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul’ co-founder/business mogul Jack Canfield. The series is based on a recent webinar interview of Canfield by Steve Harrison of the Radio & TV Interview Report. In addition to co-authoring more than 200 titles […]
Posted in Authors (Other), Guest Posts, Work, Writers on Writing, Writing, Writing Business Bits at Jo Parfitt's, tagged author, bestsellers, Chicken Soup of the Soul, Jack Canfield, Jo Parfitt, Mark Victor Hansen, NY Times bestsellers list, RTIR, speaker, Steve Harrison, Wesley Clark, writing on June 9, 2011 | 3 Comments »
For a little change of pace, we’re going to do something different today. I’m over at Jo Parfitt’s blog with the first of a three-part guest post Getting to Where You Want to Be, Part I. I recently listened to an insightful webinar interview with Jack Canfield, co-founder of the immensely popular ‘Chicken Soup of […]
