Dorrier Underwood

It was about 11:00 p.m. when I heard my husband Robert hollar, “WOAH!!!” from the bedroom. I could tell this was a hollar that signaled, “HELP NEEDED, NOW,” versus an exclamation produced by seeing something cool on his iPad. Sure enough, as I leapt down the stairs two at a time, I heard, “THERE’S A BIRD IN HERE. CAN YOU PLEASE HELP?” In the home we share with two dogs and three indoor/outdoor young cats, we have an agreement: if a critter is alive and in the house, it’s my job to catch and release. If it’s dead, Robert’s on clean-up duty. This was clearly an “alive” situation, and realizing that, I took a deep breath as my feet touched the first floor, steadying my energy to interact calmly with our frightened feathered guest. As I skidded to a halt in the bedroom door, I could see something whirling fast around the room in absolutely perfect circles, flying at a level just under the whirring ceiling fan, not touching a thing. As I looked closer, I noticed an umbrell...

It’s a mystery to me!  I looked outside and the first, the one-and-only tomato, on one of our two tomato plants, was gone.  It hadn’t quite ripened and I was going to give it one more day and then pick it.  I had thought about bringing it in a day early and letting it ripen inside, but I felt like if it ripened on the vine it would be tastier. Now, it’s gone.   I asked Cliff if he picked it.  He said, “No.” We both looked at each other.  He said, “Did you pick it?” (I am not sure if he was serious or teasing.) Now the “What’s happened.” is “The tomato is gone.” The story that we tell about it is actually stories plural.   An animal picked it. A squirrel took it. I’ve seen big rabbits around. A rabbit ate it. A neighborhood child stole it. Neighborhood kids have been canvassing our tiny deck garden for years, looking forward to taking that one-and-only, prized-by-me tomato. And Cliff had another story: “Kimber...

Integrity, what is it? Doing what works, doing what you say you will do, and on time. Integrity, Principles, stories to follow... Being related and integrity are the source of results, and that is it. Look there strategically. Are you building relationships? Are you being true to your word? To your strategy? Being true to your values Being true to your standards and ideas Being true to who you have said your self to be Guilt and shame is not integrity They are internal states. You are loyal to your internal state (how you feel) At the cost of being out here Related in the world You are dancing with disempowering conversations You could give your word not to do that When you notice a disempowering conversation When you notice being loyal to how you feel about it Unless you are lit up and empowered by how you feel, but mostly regarding not keeping your word, you are ashamed, guilty and embarrassed All of which are internal states Jus...