mindfulness – Shelley Burbank, Writer

VIDEO: Pondering in the Garden

The flowers of Autumn Joy Sedum start out a delicate green, turn pink, and then deepen in color as the season progresses, ending up a dark maroon just before the snow falls. There is so much to ponder in the garden...life cycles, growth, maturity, interconnectedness... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsHOjlB3JFA&t=100sGood Monday morning, peeps!I thought it was time for some mindfulness this morning.I'd grabbed my getting-to-be-habitual peanut butter protein bar and a mug of coffee and headed out to the garden to do some reading. The sun was shining. The birds were swooping to the birdfeeders. It was glorious, but all…

Fear and Loathing in America

I'm starting something new on the blog. It's called Off the Cuff. Here I write about sundry topics on my "off days." Basically, I'm venting. So beware. However, I also attempt to find a silver lining or a way forward. Also, there may be references and footnotes. Yeah. It's that kind of thing. Today's Off the Cuff topics: Social media, for the most part, no longer serves me. And people are crazy. ***** Social Media "Whoas " For a few weeks, I've posted notices on Facebook pointing to my website, encouraging people with whom I'm "friendly"…

Mindful Monday, July 20, 2020

Today, I’m thinking about Slow Media. There’s been chatter lately about a “cashless society” where we can only make purchases using apps and cards. Every so often, news of a shocking data breach comes to our attention (more on this later), and we discover our information may have been sold or given away to unknown entities. We hear of a new app or service and want to participate, even though we know it mean, sigh, yet another password and yet another AI tracking, analyzing, using, or even selling our preferences, shopping habits, interests, and reads/views.

🍓 Mindful Monday, July 13, 2020

So here we are again on a Monday, the entire week spread out before us like a delectable buffet of goodies…or not.

🌴 Mindful Monday, June 22, 2020

Happy Mindful Monday, my friends. Today I am thinking about the summer solstice, how it is a midpoint, an apex of sorts, the lightest time of the year. Chasing this thought is another about how we are constantly in flux. To expect stability is to pursue an impossible dream.

🍸Friday Happy Hour, April 17, 2020

Shelley Burbank
April 17, 2020
Friday Happy Hour / Good Life Crazy Times
8 Comments

I've started sketching humorous little comics in this weird, isolating period of pandemic. --SRB I have run out of vodka. Not only that, I’ve run out of olives. Now, there are many things about this pandemic we are in that are more important than my inability to make myself a martini at the end of the day, but I’m mourning the loss just the same. Just as you are most likely mourning the loss of something seemingly small, but none-the-less important, to your idea of “the good life.” (If you’ve lost a person to this pandemic,…

🍸 Friday Happy Hour, January 31, 2020

Shelley Burbank
January 31, 2020
Friday Happy Hour / Good Life Crazy Times / Weekend Edition
2 Comments

Well, we made it to Friday, peeps, so welcome to my first A GOOD LIFE IN CRAZY TIMES Friday Happy Hour! Whoo-hoo! In honor of happy hour, I will tell you a brief story about my introduction to the most delicious and potentially the most habit-forming cocktail. In the spring of 2018, I worked for an academic publishing company and was invited to work the company’s booth at the annual American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference in New York City. Up until this time, I labored under the impression that education researchers, PhDs, university professors, etc.…