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Posts tagged ‘Communication’

Jul 10

Giving Gal Stephanie Jones

moving the podcast – interview from January 7, 2015

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Episode 35. Stephanie Jones talks about her lifelong passion for giving, shares stories of her giving experiences both great and awkward, and provides tips on how anyone can become a giver.

 “If, throughout your journey of what you’re trying to accomplish, you’re impacting other lives and trying to make other lives better, then you’re gonna be successful.”

0:00 ~ defining what is a gift
7:30 ~ 500 days of giving
12:45 ~ tips to become a giver
17:05 ~ half-eaten pizza (giving takes courage)
22:25 ~ doing something is better than doing nothing
25:00 ~ becoming a life coach & encouraging others to give

Connect with Stephanie
on her website GivingGal.com
on Twitter @1Giving_Gal
on Facebook 1 Making a Difference

Clicky Clicky!
1 Making a Difference
Giving Gal Shop
A Half-Eaten Pizza and a Story to Share
Innovative Organizing
Giving Gal on Pinterest

♦

May 21

Clay Morgan and the Art of Field Research

moving the podcast – interview from August 20, 2013

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I asked Clay to come talk to us about his writing process. Clay talks about the unique challenges of writing book number 2, fully experiencing the adventure of field research (while still taking notes), and how he turns it all into a book worth reading.

Scroll down a little further to see a couple of short videos from our talk last year!

Clay Square

“There are just stories upon stories that are hidden in these trips and these tales,
and it’s going to be very fun when I finally get to tell them all.”

0:00 ~ writing book #2: “Definitely no room to relax.”
8:50 ~ the unique challenges of doing field research
16:45 ~ turning the bits and pieces into a book
26:45 ~ creative momentum (and it’s never finished, just submitted)
29:20 ~ “When you write non-fiction, you’re the character”
33:30 ~ a few teasers (couldn’t you just smack him?)

Here are two Clay Bonuses:
I’ve previously posted the audio from my Undead interviews with Clay. Here is the last piece, where Clay breaks down the chapters from that book.

And here is a little fun bit we did, where I gave Clay a Pop Culture Quiz.

Connect with Clay
on his blog Storymen.us
on Twitter @ClayMorganPA
on Facebook
on YouTube usahistoryguy
on The StoryMen podcast

Buy his first book Undead!
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References
Donald Miller
Michael Hyatt
Tony Horwitz
Confederates in the Attic
Sarah Vowell
Assasination Vacation
Chuck Klosterman
Leanne Shirtliffe
Leanne’s interview on this podcast
A.J. Jacobs
Guinea Pig Diaries
The Year of Living Biblically

♦

Jul 21

18 Comments

What Are You Thinking? (right this minute)

I once asked a boyfriend, “What are you thinking right this minute?”

We were driving somewhere, I don’t remember where, and my mind was flitting from this topic to that, just all over the place. Nothing important in there at all. And suddenly I wondered what had been in his mind right at that exact moment when I was thinking about whatever it was I was thinking about.

Was it something big? Was it some little nothing? Had he been thinking “it’s almost time to get the oil changed,” or “there’s a bird,” or “what are we going to eat for dinner,” or… It could be anything!

I turned to him with a huge smile and asked, “What are you thinking right this minute?” I was girl-excited; I wanted to know(!).

“Nothing.”

 

What?

 

“You must have been thinking something.” I mean, there’s no way his mind was completely blank, right?

And so I clarified my question: “I just want to know what was going through your mind right at that minute. No matter how little it was.”

“Nothing!” He was quite adamant. And annoyed. His mind was, apparently, a complete blank.

I persisted in a persistent manner to inform him that there was no way his mind was a complete blank.

“There’s no way your mind was a complete blank. You had to be thinking something. Even if it was something tiny and inconsequential, like, I don’t know…like…’those trees are really green.’ “

“I wasn’t thinking anything at all.” He could persist too. “I’m not trying to hide anything from you, I swear! I wasn’t thinking anything!”

And so I gave up. 

“You don’t have to tell me; I was just being curious.”

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to start a fight out of nothing at all.

~~~

Is it really possible for your mind to be completely blank for long stretches like that?

Or is it just a guy thing?

Have you ever started a fight out of thin air?

What are you thinking right this minute?

😉 ♥

 

Jul 1

5 Comments

There, I wrote something. Are you happy now?

I was talking to my friend Mark about not blogging for so long, and he told me “Just f*cking do it!” So are you happy now, Mark?

But he was right, and actually, this makes me happy. Just being here, typing this now, I feel excited and full of ideas and desire to write and write and write.

So why wasn’t I writing all along?

It’s been months, practically a year, since I wrote on a regular basis. I sometimes missed it, but not much. Same with the photography – I think I posted one picture this year. Almost the same with the podcast – a little spurt and then I was done.

In an interview I did last year, Asia Nelson said she was multi-passionate. I’d never heard that before, but that’s definitely me. I am not particularly great at any one thing, but I am a little good at a few different things.

Which is fine, and even great. But also not great. My passions flow through me in a cyclical pattern, burning bright then burning out then eventually coming back around with that fire again. I put a lot of creative and emotional (and physical) energy into one thing until I am burned out and have nothing left.

But that is just my personality too – I give all of myself over to a project, and at some point you have nothing left in the tank.

I didn’t feel that burning desire to come back to blogging; it was more like a little ember. But just being here is like kindling. We’ll see what develops. 🙂

~~~

What is your passion?

Is it self-sustainable, or does that flame burn out from time to time?

 

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