Stay Connected
Don't leave just yet. Besides these articles, sometimes I send out extra special stuff. Don't miss out. Sign up here.
Jon is a writer, speaker, and fellow unicorn lover.
You read that correctly.
I have heard Jon speak a few times and have even picked up a few speaking tips that he passed on to my friend Rachel…who in turn passed them on to me. (Hope that’s ok, Jon.) He was a main speaker last week at Catalyst and once again braided wisdom, humor, and magic into one talk.
Hey y’all.
I’m in the dirty, dirty south. I just participated in a lab at the Catalyst Conference today, together with the incredible Leonce and Bianca, who together I now refer to as Beyonce.
I could not wait until tomorrow to show this to you.
I was overwhelmed by the 1300 of you who showed up on Friday night. For those of you who missed it, here is a highlight reel of the evening.
Hey Friends, I am excited and honored to speak at Catalyst Atlanta in October. They have a set of interview questions for all of their speakers and I thought I would share them with you as a break from “relationship-talk” and let you in on wisdom I’ve learned from my dad and some of the other things I think about…like Hitler. 1. Who is someone that inspires you today to be a better leader? Hitler. Waaa? Yes. I don’t say that for shock value, but he …
I had never met someone whose heart understands to the same degree the passion and responsibility I feel for my work until Rachel came into my life. From the minute we first chatted on the phone to the all-you-can-eat sushi buffets, our conversations have happened at high speeds, with intensity, lots of nodding, big eyes, and eventual howls of laughter. When our work (God, relationships, and money—oh my!) isn’t being discussed, you might overhear Rachel trying to convince me that Taylor Swift is a legitimate artist.
Hello, friends, earthlings, sons, and daughters, I know it’s human nature to want to know how to do something. Many of you often ask, “How do I show respect?” Or, “What does showing love practically look like?” While I often try to stay away from formulas and “Bill Nye the Science Guy” how-tos, I know it’s helpful from time to time to get ideas from other people, such as when I explained how a daughter could write a respect letter to a father. You don’t …
One of the themes I see in many of the Ask Joy questions I get is, “How do I…?” or “When should I…?” or “Is it ok if…?” And one of my main goals is… …to not answer. I prefer posing questions to give possible scenarios pointing the asker to a more global answer. I want to push myself and all of us, to think. And that’s what I want to do for those of you who simply see The Hunger Games as one of …
Paul is a friend from Westmont College. You may remember his face from a guest post I did with him a while back. We have a mutual love of Double Dare, Marc Summers and many other glorious staples of the 90’s. He has a great spin on “the one” topic that I wanted to share with you today. I also hope you will check out his site www.allgroanup.com for some great articles and resources on the topics many “post grads” face today. Paul has written …
This summer I attended what I imagine business people calling a “power lunch.” I was invited by the core team of 4-Word women. All the other women were in their work attire, and I showed up with my bike helmet. Oops. One of the incredible women I met was Stephanie. Thanks to my helmet in tow, I found out she also loves to ride. We set out on our bikes one day after work and found ourselves in Camas, Washington breaking for dinner at the fantastic Twilight …
The flower I brought you this morning. Alberta told me to keep it as a reminder of you. Dear June, I’m sitting in my office a little stunned thinking, “I should have gone to visit on Saturday or Sunday.” I know you wouldn’t want me to live in shame, but I do feel an overwhelming sadness at losing you so quickly. I will find your family so I can tell them how much you meant to me, but right now I want to write out …
Recently I was at a wedding and I spoke with someone for an hour during “mingle time.” You know, that period lasting anywhere from 60-348.2 minutes where the ceremony is done and you are waiting for the bride and groom to arrive. Mingle Time. Post mingle time, I realized during the whole conversation, I had not been asked one question. Not one. Granted, I was asking lots of questions, and I didn’t have a need for the person to ask me any…but I still found …
Not too long ago I spoke at a university’s chapel. After the event finished, some of the students came up to talk with me. One guy very formally shook my hand and told me he was part of the “Entrepreneurial Club.” He looked at me with the intensity of a car salesman and told me I did “an excellent job.” (The conversation went something like this…) “Thank you. I appreciate that.” “Have you ever considered doing something on your own?” “What do you mean?” “Well, …
Small State of the Union:
Because of my propensity to dogmatism, I tend to shy away from God-talk or anything that sounds like I’m trying to be holier than I know I really am. In my desire to not fall into legalism or pietism or any other ism that would put me in a sometimes disliked category of “Christian,” I choose my words carefully.
Sometimes.
Last week I heard the little “pop” sound on my computer and realized someone was “chatting me.” It was an old friend who had just recently broken up with his girlfriend. After e-chatting for a bit, I decided to run one of my little theories past him. He resonated with the portion I shared and said I should write it up. So here goes…
Tomorrow I have the privilege of speaking at Pepperdine University with Dr. Ken Canfield on a fun topic.
Porn.
(a fictitious letter)
Dear Fellow Friends of Rachel,
Did you know that infants, if put in a pool, start swimming naturally? It’s kind of scary to watch because, well, they are infants. What more can they do than sleep, eat, poop and cry? Letting go of an infant takes a huge amount of trust in the child’s natural instincts. Something we can’t see.
4