You get the day off today. What are you doing?
June 18, 2024 | Sparkle Wednesday
Today is Juneteenth, and our office is closed, but unlike other holidays like Thanksgiving or Independence Day, we haven't always gotten this day off.
Back in 2020, we were raw with emotion. Here in Minneapolis, George Floyd's death left our community feeling helpless, angry, and sad. It was hard.
I don't remember learning about Juneteenth in school. I'm not sure if that's because it wasn’t part of the curriculum or I wasn’t paying close attention. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t on my radar until four years ago when I stumbled on Hella Creative’s article WHAT IS JUNETEENTH? A Look into Our History - 155 years later: Black America's forgotten story of liberation. After reading this article, we (ArcStone) decided to accept Hella Creative’s challenge and make Juneteenth a holiday for our company.
Now, Juneteenth is a federal holiday and there are tons of celebrations and an awareness that there wasn’t just a few years ago.
To mark the day, I’ll be taking an extra-long walk, with plenty of time to think and ponder. I'll end up with an extra fancy coffee, maybe a little canoeing (if the weather permits), and then an excursion out to have more fun.
So, hopefully, today is a day off for you, too. If so, what are you doing?
I'm reading the book The Women for our book club next week so spent 3 hours reading. It's a page turner from the get go. We're also doing a trial run of cooking a Picanha steak for 3 friends before our Gourmet dinner on Friday. Chumichurri too. Glad we did because we over grilled the steak. It was still delicious.
I’m not a crier anymore, but this post brought tears. Thank you for honoring Juneteenth, and giving your employees the time off. As a white woman learning, I’m not sure what my place is today. I run my own business, but don’t have employees- my clients come to me for help (sometimes in crisis) and hope, so I don’t take off many holidays bc those are big need days in my line of work. I’m working today. There is a Juneteenth celebration in my small town, and I’ve been wondering if I should attend it or go to my writer’s group which I really enjoy, but is at the same time.
When I do take a day off, I walk in nature, drink tea, and read. I seek the uncomplicated.