November 2020 Issue

Employee Engagement in a Pandemic

It seems like an oxymoron. While our teams worry about keeping safe, learn from home, work from home, and alternate schedules, how do we ensure that they remained engaged with their work? Employee engagement has many definitions, but my favorite comes from Wikipedia: An engaged employee has a positive attitude toward an organization and its values. You may want to read that again. More and more employees are placing higher emphasis on organizational values. Employee engagement is infused into every part of the employee life cycle. Whether you’re an employee or an employer, it’s important to ensure that your values are on display, beginning with the hiring process. Keep in

Photo of the Month | Joseph Sanders

Photo of the Month: Joseph Sanders My journey in portrait photography came in stages that were out of order from what one would typically think. Most of the time, someone will start with taking photos of family and friends, slowly learn the mechanics of the camera, and eventually master the editing techniques needed to produce professional looking headshots. For me, it was quite the opposite. Starting my freshman year at Williston-Elko High School, I began to explore the world of Adobe Photoshop in my computer graphics class. I liked it so much that I took that same class twice over my four years there just for fun. Once I moved

What’s In the Reflection of the Mirror to Your Soul?

What would I look like if I actually accomplished what I set out to accomplish? I find myself in the midst of a construction project in which others are following my vision. I am mindful of having a vision that is clear enough for others to follow. This requires having a clear picture of the project, drawings even, and having a clear picture of the steps we are going to take to accomplish the vision. That’s my job. But as I thought about writing the vision, a deeper understanding came to me. I was having this thought early in the morning when I walked past the bathroom mirror, and again

Beat Holiday Angst and Depression with Gut Health

The holiday season is almost upon us and this year is no different when it comes to stress with running around preparing food, buying gifts, decorating and dealing with hard to please relatives. But with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, anxiety and depression appear to have skyrocketed. The number of Americans suffering from mental health disorders like these has more than tripled during COVID-19 according to a new survey from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published by JAMA. Stress and anxiety can trigger symptoms in the gut, and gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation sends signals to the brain and has been linked to mental illnesses including

Turkey on Zoom?

No, this does not mean chasing a fast turkey, Uncle Billie-Bob… I don’t think it is worth my time to address all the cons for having to practice social distancing for your holiday traditions. For functional families, it may be very difficult to be distanced from loved ones. However, for those of us who have the courage to admit that our families are dysfunctional, our gatherings may be the best ever. First of all, within both words there is a little secret 3-letter word embedded — FUN. So why not create a new kind of fun or family tradition? Let’s examine the wisdom and actual quotes from the Centers for

What’s In Your Wallet? | Thankful for 2020?

You can control both where your assets are invested and who you choose to take advice from. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. It is a reminder that regardless of our circumstances, there are always things to be thankful for. One of the most profound messages that I heard two years ago was on the topic of happiness. The speaker had done years of research on the topic, and one of the consistent mainstays of happiness in the people he researched is that they had an attitude thankfulness. There are people whose wallets (or bank accounts) are filled with wealth, but they are miserable; they will gladly tell you about everything

The August Bella Book Club Review | The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Aiken Bella Magazine

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – by Grady Hendrix

Bella Book Club Monthly Selection by Nichole Miller The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix, provides an unusual combination of classic horror and old Southern charm. Patricia Campbell is a stay-at-home mom who is trying her best to raise her teenage children and care for her senile mother-in-law. Her husband, a psychiatrist, is never home and is little help, and Patricia’s sanity is starting to run thin. After embarrassing herself at the snooty local ladies’ book club, she walks out to find some of the other members forming a new book group where she is introduced to true crime stories and a group of amazing women

Giving Thanks with Restricted Eating

It is November and Thanksgiving is at the end of the month. Thanksgiving in this strange year of 2020 will be different for almost all of us. You may not be able to celebrate as you usually do, in the same location or with the same people as in previous years. For some of you this may be the first Thanksgiving that you have some sort of dietary restriction. You may have limitations on the amount of sugar, other carbohydrates, or fat you can eat due to diabetes. Those with heart or kidney disease may have to restrict animal foods or fat. Some of you may have food allergies or

A Tradition of Women

There is a decades-old tradition among the people of the Hawaiian Islands — among the women specifically, and those of Polynesian descent in particular — to take to their boats and pay tribute to their ancestors in a challenging and meaningful annual event. They race in outrigger canoes between the shores of two islands across wildly open ocean waters. And when they do so, they honor their mothers and grandmothers and all the women who have gone before them, and become an example for all those to come. They use only their own human strength: the power of their arms and backs, their wrists and hands and legs, their will