by Edee Kulper

Special to the Sounder

Surely at some point you’ve had your self-esteem rocked in your life. Whether you were born into difficult family relations, had to clamber your way through middle-school taunting, felt you didn’t measure up to models on magazine covers, went into a highly competitive career, or simply married a jerk. Society can put self-esteem in a category of lesser importance but really, it’s there all the time. It’s something that can waver at any moment if you haven’t been taught somewhere along the line that you are of absolute value.

Bill and Linda McGrane, of McGrane Global Centers, will be coming from Ohio area to give a seminar on Orcas Island, teaching key life skills at the Orcas Island Library on Thursday, Aug. 24 from 6–7:30 p.m. They have spent their lives studying and building the self-esteem of individuals, families, business owners, education experts, governments and the healthcare industry. They specialize in transformational work that provides inner emotional and external communication tools so that people can live out their full potential and work effectively together.

You may not think you need this. You may think it doesn’t apply to you. You may accompany a friend to this event, having little expectation of its value for yourself. But you will walk away from it feeling like it was one of the most important things you ever attended. That’s how those of us who went to the McGranes’ first seminar here felt.

This is the second time they have spoken on Orcas and they hope to foster our island’s collective self-esteem skills by inviting individuals, families, teachers, counselors, church leaders, coaches, youth leaders, business owners, entrepreneurs, school administrators, school board members and local government leaders. Admission is by donation and all are welcome.