Jun 28, 2007, Vol. V Issue 13

Dear Friends,

If you get Jana Stanfield’s Caterpillar Society e-news, you already know that Jana has become quite the world traveler. Since returning from India in February, she’s been to South Africa and Dubai. In fact, she has the world travel bug so bad, she’s decided to station herself in India next year. This is what I call following the guidance of her own song lyrics — “What Would I Do Today If I Were Brave?” — to the letter.  But once a speaker, always a speaker – her career continues, thank goodness. Learn how you can join the Jana Stanfield Bon Voyage tour in this issue.

Also, I’m excited to share with you an awesome resource for improving your relationships with men. My dear friend and speaker Holly Stiel was so elated when she told me about this a couple of years ago that I was tempted to fly to California to join her for a weekend seminar. As luck would have it, the seminars have now come to Portland. And Holly was right: this stuff is life transforming. My only regret is that it’s not available everywhere. My hope is that it will show up in your city, just like it did in mine! Meantime, I’ll give you the website as a resource.

Jana Stanfield: Going Global

Jana is in fact, fulfilling a life-long dream with her worldwide travel. I admire her greatly for this, yet I have mixed feelings because booking her is always a home run. Therein, lies the good news. Actually, double good news. First of all, she wants to get out and see as many of her old friends and clients throughout the rest of this calendar year as she can on the Jana Stanfield Bon Voyage tour — as well as make some new friends! So if you think you’d like to have her keynote your conference or women’s event yet this year, call now. And if her fee was out of your budget in the past, give us a call anyway and if she’s available, we’ll see if we can work something out to benefit everyone.

Secondly, we’ve already had calls for Spring and Fall 2008 dates, so she is planning to accept bookings and come back to the states in May and again in Sept/Oct. 2008. We also want you to know that while she is out of the country, you will always have staff support from either me here, or Joy and Laurie in her office in Nashville.

I admire Jana for many reasons. Among them she is not only a talented singer-songwriter and speaker, she is also a student of her craft and a meeting planner’s ideal partner. As a student, she’s in the front row at Jack Canfield’s self-esteem seminars year after year or honing her funny bone at humor workshops. Often when I call her on her cell phone, she’s on her way to a guitar or voice lesson. If you’re like me, you’re thinking, “Wow, with a voice and talent like that, she’s still taking lessons?” Yep, practice, practice, practice, as they say, will get you to Carnegie Hall – as Jana knows.

And when it comes to being a meeting planner’s partner, Jana is a model for putting the meeting planner’s needs first. She volunteers ideas, whether it’s ahead of time for promoting the event, or once she’s on site and senses the energy of the event and the audience.

On April 27, at “Tapestry: A Day for Women,” held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jana opened the day’s activities with a keynote concert. “Jana customized her message based on what we told her about our event and our audience,” Jennifer Bosk, Chairperson for Tapestry told me. “She engaged everyone and there was plenty of laughter and tears as she touched our hearts with her songs and stories.

“She did things we’d never thought of before, like bringing all of the exhibitors up to the stage and recognizing them,” Jennifer continued. “They loved that. And later she brought up all the volunteers and recognized them. She really knows how to be a good steward.”

I’ve had the privilege of attending many events where Jana has presented, and she is always generous about sharing the stage whether it’s with another performer or a wannabe performer (age 4 and up — who on any given occasion may steal the show!). I see this as the mark of a real pro. Inclusiveness is something we could all think more about  practicing in our daily lives.

And, finally, I couldn’t talk about Jana without talking about her giving nature. For many years, she’s been a volunteer at Muscular Dystrophy Camp, she spearheaded a drive to raise funds to re-build and refurbish an orphanage in Bali, and she started her own organization, Women Helping Women Help the World. That doesn’t even include the kids and adults with musical dreams whom she has inspired and encouraged to follow their dreams. I’d say she’s a model worth listening to.

Learn more about Jana Stanfield and her programs on our website or call now to book her while she’s still in the country. She’s a champion for women, humanity and for appreciating people who serve and do good in the world at every level.

She’s also a lot of fun to hang out with.

Making Sense of Men

Have you ever been confounded by the opposite sex?  Now, let’s be completely truthful here – how about irritated, upset, and totally baffled?  And, did you notice that the man was un-phased . . . or seemed baffled, too? Are there two people in this relationship or is it just me — alone? Well, as it turned out, I learned after attending a “Making Sense of Men” seminar, there were three – me, my husband and the Ideal Woman.

Now, as you faithful readers know, I have been married for the first time, in my fifties, for close to two years now to a sweetheart of a man who is also the editor of this e-news so he reads every word I publish. [Ed. Note: Oh Boy, do I!] And, please don’t get the wrong impression — the Ideal Woman has no resemblance to the Other Woman. The Ideal Woman is a shadow — some aberration of our imaginations nurtured by our Super Woman culture. The good news is we made her up and we can eradicate her just as quickly.

Have you ever wondered why your husband, significant other, brother, son, etc. doesn’t do things the way you would do them? That could be anything from loading the dishwasher to responding to a family crisis, to planting the garden to taking out the garbage. Well, according to Alison Armstrong, creator of these programs, listen up, ladies, “Men are not hairy women!” They don’t do things the way we do, and never will – let alone do them as perfectly as the Ideal Woman.

Letting this expectation go changed everything — especially because I no longer had to hold myself up to the model Ideal Woman either. Phew! What a relief! And, end result, the men are no longer misbehaving. They’re just being men. No need to change them, no need to change myself – just a different way of looking at things (it reminds me of our speaker Kathryn Cramer, and her book and program, “Change the Way You See Everything”).

In fact, I left that free seminar transformed, (and signed up for the weekend seminar, “Celebrating Men, Satisfying Women”). I attended it in May and it was worth many times the dollars invested. [The editor  agrees.] I now have frameworks, tools, and a great sense of humor to apply to the daily discrepancies inherent in the way men and women do things, see things and relate.

This is about creating partnership with men based on a profound understanding of the differences between men and women, rather than the adversarial models many of us have assumed. By expecting our differences and working with them, we can learn to trust each other, support each other and achieve satisfying relationships. Alison’s company is called PAX Programs Incorporated. PAX, the Latin word for “peace” and an acronym for Partnership, Adoration and Xtasy, creates peace between the sexes by providing unique and immediately useful information to women.

If there’s a seminar where you live, GO!  You can get seminar schedules at the website as well as articles, and lots of helpful information. But don’t stop there. Email them to bring these programs to your community. This is VERY good stuff.

 

Berry Good Stuff

Now that summer is officially here, you’ll find me at the Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning that I’m in town. And mid-week, I’m lured by a fruit stand I can walk to from home – it makes the daily dog walk purposeful and I’m blaming it for the $5-a-day fresh strawberry habit my husband and I have developed. As the strawberries (and there are no strawberries in the world like fresh Oregon berries) dwindle, the raspberries, blueberries and blackberries are coming in right behind them. Ahh, the simple pleasures of summer … bring ‘em on!

My husband has created his own version of crème fresh. He puts the fresh berries in a bowl, adds a scoop or so of vanilla ice cream, some sour cream and a swish of whipped cream (from a can). Now, in our household, every one of these dairy products is low fat, skim or light – that’s what makes it permissible. Anyway, it’s a scoop of this, a spoon of that, and a splat of that whipped cream, all stirred together. Mmmm. Heavenly. As I was writing this, he brought me a dish to share. Peace on earth, definitely. Perhaps I’ll write to Alison and tell her about this. My man definitely gets points for this yummy experience.

Until next time, be good to yourself and the men in your life, for your good health and those you love.

Yours truly in good health,

Barbara