BlessBack | Julie Saffrin

“Go Bless” Earth Day only, give someone a BlessBack® for 99 cents

April 22, 2014 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Sheldon Bass sent me an e-mail after he and I connected on LinkedIn. I liked his message for its simple, action-filled message. Here is what he wrote: “I think I’m translating ‘BlessBack’ correctly. I do my best to be a blessing to everyone I come across. A friend sent me an email a few years ago and he signed off with a typical, “God Bless”. Only, he accidentally left off the “d,” so it read “Go Bless”. After we talked about it, we realized it was a much better sign off to use. Simple wisdom from a typo. Go Bless.…

Be Causal

April 14, 2014 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

From BlessBack®: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life by Julie Saffrin “We can be people of “because.” We can act or write others when we see them doing something good. “Be causal,” by blessing and thanking others with a BlessBack in your neighborhoods, communities and places where you work. It won’t be long before a bond of compassion forms. To help you “be causal,” if you would like to download this free stationery in pdf form, please do and send a letter to someone who deserves your thanks for how they influenced your life. Change the world. One BlessBack at…

Meet Bonnie McGrath: Writer of 800 Christmas Cards Each With Handwritten Note

December 18, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 1 Comment

Meet Bonnie McGrath: Writer of 800 Christmas Cards Each With Handwritten Note EDINA, MN — Think you have a big Christmas card list? You haven’t met Bonnie McGrath. Not only will Bonnie send 800 Christmas cards in December 2013, she’ll write a personal note in each one. “For me, it is just very meaningful that I put something in the note that lets the person know how I feel about him or her,” Bonnie said. “I feel it’s the only time I might have to talk to a person and I want to stay connected.” Seems a lot of us…

To-Day

August 2, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

To-Day I know of two newscasters, one on broadcast television and on the other on cable, who end their on-air segments with the phrase “On This Day,” then recap what has happened in years past “on this day.” I love to discover a word’s origins. The word, “today” comes to us in Old English as todӕge, or to dӕge meaning “on (the) day.” “To” and “day” were separate words until the early 1900s. In German, we get *hiu tagu “on (this) day,” with Latin’s influence of “on this side.” When I think of the Latin combination of words to describe today, I…

Lavish Love

July 3, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

In college, I studied various communication theories. The one I found most memorable was Young Yun Kim’s Cross-Cultural Adaptation Theory, a theory that explains how immigrants learn to adapt to a new culture and country. Kim explained this theory in Understanding Communication Theory: The Communicative Forces for Human Action, by giving an example of how Korean immigrants accustomed themselves to living in the United States. To acclimate themselves to living in America, the immigrants planted one foot in their new country and kept the other in their old by: Speaking English to those who spoke English Speaking Korean to fellow Koreans Reading…

Little Things

June 1, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 6 Comments

Little Things It’s been said that a turtle cannot move unless it sticks its neck out. Yet sometimes, with our necks out, we’ve tried to make headway, only to find we’ve made circles in the sand. I wouldn’t call myself a computer expert by any stretch of the imagination, but on two separate occasions in one day last week, two friends were overwhelmed by their tasks at hand. They had tried countless times to figure out their computer problems, but with no success, they were on the verge of exasperation. “I’d be so grateful if you could just stop over…

Play Date

May 17, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • 1 Comment

Pink magnolia | https://juliesaffrin.com

In Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way, she writes about the importance of having a monthly play date. Friend and author Joy DeKok and I did exactly that on Monday, May 13. Our first stop was the University of Minnesota’s Arboretum in Chanhassen, Minn. Although the Arboretum was just shedding its winter clothes and many of the gardens showed only an inch or so of good things to come, the magnolias were in bloom and filled the pathway with their lovely blossoms and sweet fragrance. The tulips looked like foot-high asparagus spears. But in protected, sunny spots, we did see bright spots…

Teacher Appreciation Day

May 7, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Teacher Appreciation Day May 7, 2013 Dear Friends, In T. S. Eliot’s poem, Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, the narrator lived life all boxed in. Societal expectations and self-made cardboard sides prevented him from venturing out into the world. Near the end of the poem, the narrator asks tentatively, “Dare I disturb the universe?” There was a time when I was afraid to disturb the universe. But the sought-out advice of some good people encouraged me to finish my book and disturb the universe. BlessBack: Thank Those Who Shaped Your Life released in February 2012. In February 2013, a year…

Reversed Thanks: Client Sends Hairdresser Flowers

May 3, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

May 2, 2013 will go down in history as a day where Minnesota experienced a narrow-banded snowstorm that closed schools and dropped 18 inches of snow in an area that stretched from Owatonna in the south part of the state, through northwest Wisconsin up to Lake Superior. But the day will also be a unique day to remember for Kathryn Paradise, co-owner of Salon Spatoria in Victoria. For out of the blue, Kathryn received a BlessBack. As I sat down in Kathryn’s styling chair, to my left, on the mirror, I saw a promotion, advertising buy-one-get-one-free in haircare products. Kathryn…

May Day Basket of Gratitude

April 29, 2013 • Julie Saffrin • Leave a Comment

Step-by-step instructions and a free downloadable pdf for you to use. I had the privilege to speak on gratitude at a women’s morning event at Faithpoint Lutheran Church in New Prague on Saturday, April 27. After I spoke, my sister-in-law, Debbie Trewartha instructed us all on a fun and easy craft. I loved her idea to use it as a May Day Basket of Gratitude. Use them to give to your children, a friend or place them on co-workers’ desks while they are at lunch or in a meeting. Or, pretend you are a child again and place one…

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