Reflections From The Topshelf

By Moe Peacock

Almost a year has gone by since the Coronavirus made its way around the world and sparked a Global Pandemic. With all the chaos happening who could have known what the year 2020 would have in store.

 It was around this time in 2019 where tension between the US and Iran was high following a missile launch that killed Iran military leader, Qasem Soleimani. There were mass shootings all over the country which included a school in Aurora, Texas. How could one forget the fatal helicopter crash that killed 9 people, including Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter Gianna, her teammate and family as well as the pilot on January 26th. 

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i’m only human

by Nick Dauk

I don’t have the time or energy to write this.

Which, as a professional writer, is embarrassing. If anything, I should have nothing but time and energy to crank out a few hundred words. 

But tonight, I’m a writer struggling to string together sentences, a husband working yet another weekend, and a father wishing I wasn’t in my office, a world away from my beautiful baby boy.

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Walking As Meditation: How To BE Alone

By Laura Unterberg

I started walking because I couldn’t stand still any longer. I have never been that person though. I’ve never been the person tapping a pencil, pacing in circles, compelled to move. I always thought I was fine with stillness. But March 18, 2020 I was not.

Five days prior, my bar, like so many others, was forcibly shuttered against the oncoming flood of cases. I had spent five days sequestered in my 450 sq. ft. apartment, just mulling over the fact that I was now unemployed, broke, extremely overweight, and about to turn 30 in a brand new city. So after five days of stress eating, crying, and not sleeping, I turned off my TV and went for a walk. It took nearly two hours for me to face every possible distraction but I finally got dressed and out of the house…I got out.

 
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To Err is Human

by Mary Palac

Often in hospitality we talk about the care we provide our guests, the experiences we want to cultivate for them. We share stories, jokes, anything to make a genuine connection over a delicious cocktail. For the most part, the humor is good-natured, because we all aspire to be great hosts, but as I reflect back, I wonder just how many times I’ve crossed the line for the sake of a good time.

How often do we reconcile with the harm we may have done to few, while trying to entertain the masses?

Because we are conditioned to serve and appeal to the “regular” folk, this often means assimilating into white cis-hetero normative culture, even if that means doing harm to our own identities.

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Drawn From Momma Earth

by Eugene Nyaundi

It is often said that for us to understand mindfulness or even appreciate it, we need to look at where it all begins. It is on this topic that can all agree that we are perhaps, what we eat or surround ourselves with.

To be able to move forward we need to get ourselves right, and for me that opportunity came when I started a botanical farm. That will surely speak to the heart of this subject.

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escape to the land of citrus

by Karina Martinez

It seems like we’ve somehow jumped from March to now in lightning speed and with decades of life in between. Most of the Northern Hemisphere is bundled up and starting to hunker down. The romantic idea of being cozied up inside, by a fire and sipping on a night cap, usually involves something brown and boozy.

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sober curious

by Anna Miller

It’s an interesting dynamic; A chef who’s dating a bar manager, who's living in a house with another two bartenders, during a pandemic. I wonder how this will turn out.

Well, I’m sober now. And here’s the nitty gritty story of how and why I made that choice.

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Down Time doesn’t have to keep you down

by Maria E. Denton

It's never good when two senior managers come into your office and shut the door.  A short and cordial conversation later and I was packing up my stuff, the latest victim of my company's Covid-19 downsizing layoffs. As beverage director for two high-volume DC restaurants, I had thought myself immune from the fate of so many in the restaurant industry. I was wrong.

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So, You’re Crushing Dry January and Feel Great! But What’s Next?

by Laura Louise Green, MEd, LPC

You’re deep into Dry January, feeling great, exercising, eating well, your relationships are more communicative and healthier, your affect is brighter, and you feel like you can take on the world. Awesome. But what’s next?

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money mindfulness

by Naomi Levy

When it comes to your finances, a little mindfulness can go a long way. Knowledge is power. Even if you don’t know anything about finances you can at least know the basics of your own money and that will already be a huge step for your financial health. There are just two very basic questions you can ask yourself to help get you there.

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