vase of wildflowersBB, AB (Before Blogging, After Blogging)

I remember when, back in the days we were feverish bloggers, sticking to a blogging schedule and calendar was more important than God, your first-born, voting… ok, maybe not voting.

But consistency and regularity meant the world to us, leading to many a sleepless night. That has clearly not been the case with me for a while 😉.

Since I am back on the blog, I figured I’d give you a year’s worth of updates at one go.

1. I’m still on Facebook. More interestingly, Pickles has an Instagram account, and recently met Maxine the Fluffy Corgi, over which she I went bonkers.

Shonali Burke kneeling, Pickles the corgi, and Maxine the fluffy corgi in a backpack on her dad's back at Bark Social, a dog park in Bethesda, Md.

2. Personally, there has been a LOT going on. My father passed away, I got engaged 💖, we had a wedding and two passings in my fiancé’s family, including his mother, more people dear to me passed away… it’s been a tough year, in that regard.

3. Following a restructure at the leadership level, I closed out my time at Arena Stage on June 30. I’m very, very grateful for everything I was able to accomplish at this iconic theater, including bring back its post-pandemic earned revenue from $0 t0 $7M+ and take my second show to Broadway.

Most of all, I am incredibly grateful for the legendary leadership I got to learn from, the wonderful teams I got to (re)build and lead, and the remarkable colleagues I got to work with, all because of whom, and which, we achieved such success, bringing the joy of live theater to audiences from all around the world. They will always be close to my heart.

4. I won some awards! Unbeknownst to me, Gigawatt Group, with whom we’d worked while I was still at Arena, entered us in AMA Baltimore’s 2024 MX Awards. And we won not one, but two, for brand awareness and influencer marketing. Yay us!

5. After putting myself on sabbatical post-June 30 to catch my breath and regroup from LIFE (see #s 2 & 3 above), I’m now actively in the market for my next leadership position. I’m very grateful for the continued coaching and support of JobMorph (disclosure: Maryse, the founder, is a good friend, and I’m a micro-investor) and so many of my friends and colleagues as I move closer and closer to my next great adventure.

6. With voting underway for the 2024 US Elections, I was deeply touched by my friend Mercy Chikowore’s incredibly well-written piece in the Huffington Post at the apathy of those who take their right to vote for granted.

I remember how important it felt to vote, when I got to do so for the first time, a decade-plus ago… and how it continues to feel that way.

That people who can, won’t, feels like a travesty of everything this country stands for.

If you can, and haven’t already, please vote.

7. Returning from an afternoon matinée today, I was tempted to skip a quick trip to Trader Joe’s to replenish my fading flowers. But, given the heightened state of anxiety we’re all living in, I’m glad I revisited that decision.

And now I have beautiful flowers in a vase that bears the inscription: “Spread kindness like wildflowers.”

So I will sign off with that.

Be a wildflower. Spread kindness the way only you can. And I’ll see you on the flip side.