PeaceWalker Blog

Well, it's Monday again... Where did the weekend go? Last week I got some great correspondence back from you guys!  There's an email I received from Jim D., one of our PeaceWalker Community members, that I wanted to share with you. I think you will find it not just interesting, but beneficial too!   Danny LaRusso  or  Johnny Lawrence?! =) Craig, Just a quick note; I laughed this morning when I read your email recounting Jenn Franson's recent checkout aisle experience. Not a derisive laugh by any means, but one of honest amusement. Anyway, my source of amusement was imagining in my mind's eye, as I was reading her account, of the very real possibility of one or more burly, macho guys in proximity watching tongue-tied with mouths agape as this little wisp of a gal took charge of a nasty encounter with the potential of getting even nastier!  (Okay, maybe they wouldn't have been "burly" in the traditional sense, but next to Jenn, even a 5'-10" 150 pou

  I received an email from one of our long time PeaceWalker members, Jennifer Franson. She had an incident happen recently while at a clothing store. She tells how her training helped her deal with the conflict that ensued.  Here's Jenn's Story: What Did You Just Say To Me?! There is a lot going on right now and it is confusing and we need people with clarity and confidence now more than ever. For that, I suggest TRAINING!  Let me share with you something that happened that led me to that conclusion! This last week I was at a makeup store with my daughter and we were returning a gift. We were waiting patiently for the cashiers computer to get unstuck when... Suddenly a woman enters the store storming to the cashier, Let's call her Lucy. So Lucy comes in and asking her where the d boldly asks for the manager, "You know the manager who deals with secret shoppers etc..." The cashier girl tried to help her but none of it was to her liking and so she stormed off into t

It was a warm, sunny day. I took off early from working. It had been a long week and I needed some time to myself.  I went out to Hoffmaster Park, just North of Grand Haven, in West Michigan. A place I have been going to since I was young. My folks always had a boat and docked it in Spring Lake, so, we pretty much lived out there in the summer time.  I'm no stranger to water.  Luckily, because I'm self employed, I can get out to the beach during times when no one is around... Just the way I like it! As I  park my car, I see that there weren't too many other vehicles in the lot. Perfect, I thought! I walk out to a spot, lay out my towel and go hit the waves.  The water was refreshing. A little cool, but my body adjusted quickly. It felt good in the August heat.  I swam out maybe fifty yards or so from shore and quickly lost track of time.   In a short while, the wind picked up a bit. The water went from fairly smooth to having a bit of a chop. I was starting to get a bit tir

  I got a lot of interesting responses from a few of those blogs I wrote in January. Many accusations of what people thought I said or meant. This was my original intent in writing that email in the first place.  In many respects that email was like The Rorschach test, more commonly known as the 'Ink Blot Test.' What is the Ink Blot Test? It's a test in which respondents are asked to look at ambiguous inkblot images and then describe what they see. The test is frequently portrayed as a way of revealing a person's unconscious thoughts, motives, desires or perspective. Yesterday's email seemed to have very much the same affect on people. And that was my entire point.  There are aspects of where we are at right now that model this test. You may see the exact same thing the person next to you sees, but get something totally different out of it.  We are all conditioned to our identity, biases and group affiliation... or tribe. We are living in a time I call Neo-Tribalism