life, travel, stories – Join the journey, Love Raven
Dear Reader, “Guys, if you all want to leave, you can, I won’t complain. I’ll still be here.” This is the outburst that snapped me out of my audiobook (Jennette McCurdy’s “I’m Glad My Mom Died” by the way) and turned my attention toward the employees behind the café counter. I’m sitting in a Boston-area... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Words matter… a lot, especially, when you are giving feedback. When I was a graduate student, I had an adviser who advocated for the “compliment sandwich” — start with a compliment, proceed to give critical feedback, and, then, end with a compliment. It can be hard to hear criticism, sometimes we even try... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Have you ever heard of a micro-vacation? Probably not, because I just made it up. Okay, so I was not the first person in history to combine the prefix “micro” with the word “vacation,” however, I would like to give this word my very own definition. Micro-vacation (according to Raven): A micro-vacation is... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, I recently received some money in the mail from a family member in cash. What a nice thing to do! But, honestly, I haven’t spent cash since the lockdowns were initiated (about a hundred days ago). Without a store to spend money in, what good is money anyway? This, of course, is a... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, When was your last vacation? This question became a topic of conversation at my last staff meeting as we were reminded to take our accumulated vacation time. Interestingly, it seems that at my work, many of us are neglecting to take vacations, which seems a bit odd. Nearly all companies offer their employees... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Are you or a loved one suffering from burnout? Yes, this opening was deliberately intended to sound like a commercial for some hard-to-pronounce drug. Jokes aside, burnout is an important issue that a simple pill cannot solve. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized ‘burnout’ as an ‘occupational phenomenon.’ In a Gallup... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Humans are both indoor and outdoor creatures. We have simultaneously erected megacities while protecting forests and swamplands from manmade development. Some of us assuage our craving for nature by integrating brisk walks into our day and, perhaps, the occasional outdoor excursion into our otherwise sheltered lives. Even those of us who would rather... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, How free is your free time? For a single working adult, free time could simply be the time not spent at work. However, for a mother of two young children, free time may only be the hour or two at the end of the day after the little ones are tucked into bed.... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, Sometimes “finding the time” can feel like a treasure hunt rather than a simple task. We’ve all got things going on, but on occasion our schedules feel like too much to handle. I am lucky enough to have a manageable calendar this spring, however, with an irregular work schedule and a course, settling... Continue Reading →
Dear Reader, For my 23rd birthday I invited my grad school friends out to celebrate at a bar near Harvard Square. That night, one of my friends, who was a few years older than me, asked why I had set the party so late. “So late?” I asked in disbelief. The event only started at... Continue Reading →
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