You may suspect that the arrogant, hyper-critical jerk guy in the office next to you is overcompensating for a lack of something, but what? Turns out it’s not a lack of basic human decency, but instead it’s most likely a self-esteem deficit. According to research cited on the I/O at Work site (I/O = Industrial…
Character
TEDx Grand Rapids – Making Meaning of Connections
It’s six days out from last week’s TEDx Grand Rapids event and I’m still processing. TED events are well-known for their brief, powerful speaker presentations proffering Big Ideas (see my list of quotes from the 2012 TEDx Grand Rapids speakers). Frankly, A TEDx event can be daunting—such BIG ideas, presented by people with amazing stories…
The Motherhood of the Traveling Bedroom Set
My mother has always been woman of action. As an 18-year-old newlywed, she walked into a furniture store with $300 dollars of wedding gift money. She walked out with a three-piece bedroom set, mattress, box springs, dinette table/chairs and a pair of end tables. As she tells it: “Your father and I started out with absolutely…
Sometimes You Just Gotta Suck It Up and Carry the Goat
We live in a Midwestern suburban area surrounded by pockets of farmland. When my son was in kindergarten, I chaperoned a field trip to The Critter Barn, an educational working farm with livestock. I grew up in a farming community. My family didn’t farm, but many of my friends did, so I’ve seen the inside…