My Journey
I was washing dishes and looking out the window. Seated on the window ledge was a small gold colored rock I had picked up somewhere. As I focused on the rock, a poem came to me. I grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down what I had received. I saw the poem as a gift and still do.
To the side is half of the poem in a bookmark.
When I was very young, I helped on our dairy farm. My jobs included feeding calves and cleaning their pens, helping to grind feed, milking cows, cleaning the barn twice a day, and other tasks. I had a lot of responsibility for a child, but I liked working and enjoyed being outdoors all day. To get all my jobs done, I learned to ask myself, "What am I dealing with?
My Mom had an expression, "Watch what you're doing." Usually, this was used when not doing the job at hand efficiently. For me, this taught me to be the "observer." These two ways of viewing life have guided my search for meaning. For over forty years, I've applied this same direct observation to understanding human nature and character development. This search revealed that our purpose in life is to acquire virtues. The designs found here come from that realization.
The second event that shaped this was the book's unfolding and its design while in the hospital. I was being wheeled into my room after surgery and had a vision of a book cover. It read "To Gunnar: From: GiGi", like a Christmas gift tag. I immediately knew the book would be about building a foundation for life by understanding the value and purpose of positive life qualities, often referred to as virtues.
Eventually, I got around to writing for Gunnar, but it turned out to be a letter. I had been wanting to write something for teenagers, and saw where a book for teenagers could be designed from the letter to Gunnar.
As this journey continues, ideas keep appearing and taking shape in different ways. My hope is to create something lasting, a place where people can come for quiet, beauty, learning, and reflection.
In today's society, it appears that youth are having a tough time making sense of the turmoil and upheavals we see in daily life. At some point, I started designing for children and teenagers. There are mixed messages being given to all of us; for children, it must be even more confusing. And so I am here, offering these items for sale, for children and adults.
These designs are created to make character development practical and rooted in the true value of applying them in daily life. These resources are intentionally simple. When put into practice, they lead to a new understanding of life and its purpose, offering guidance on how to go about daily life.Some designs offer the opportunity to pause and ask, "What am I dealing with?" What virtue does this moment call for?
There is another way.
Clarity. Choice. Character.
A Guide for Teenagers
Achieving Success in Life
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