New Beginnings
To me, this time of year seems more like A New Year than January 1st does.
It is a time for new beginnings—a new school year, starting university— and even if you are well past those years yourself, thinking about when your children were starting school. Now with grandchildren entering the world of learning, the feeling lingers. It never goes away. A New Year has begun.
My daughter and I have always loved stationery stores. We would wander up and down the aisles buying supplies— now for our offices, but once for her school years. Nowadays we probably still buy a lot of unnecessary things—paper, pads, pens, folders, binders—and we joke about this being the “happiest time of the year.” This may seem odd to some people, but the joy and smell of new stationery is most definitely in our DNA.
So, perhaps this time of year can also be a time for making resolutions. We don’t have to wait until January 1st. We can resolve right now to be kinder human beings; to be compassionate to those who are suffering; to be more understanding of others’ points of view and to be less angry when things don’t go as we planned.
It’s far from easy because we are all human. We make mistakes and we become frustrated with life. I know I have lately. I hate that things are changing. My town, Victoria, is not the same unique and charming place it once was. Construction is happening everywhere, high-rises are shooting up, the homeless have created a tent city, crime and mental illness is high. Politics in my province have become bizarre. And please don’t get me started on all the bikes lanes!
I am told that these things are happening everywhere in the name of progress but sometimes I wonder. Is this really progress or are we going backwards? Or am I just getting old and thinking that this is not my world anymore?
So, when I complain that things are not the way they once were, I try to find a way through my frustrations. I write. I breathe. I walk. I play the piano. I draw. I’m not very good at those last three but even my pathetic attempts bring me some peace.
I think I’ve become pretty good at writing through the years—twenty-seven published books and hundreds of columns and articles prove my point. But writing for me is so much more. It is an escape into another world where characters, places, events and plot twists make me happy.
So, I guess the moral of my ramblings today is to find your own talents and not waste them. Or simply find your bliss—your happy place. Learn to say ‘no’ in a respectful way if something is not what you want to do. And always be grateful for everything you have.
Above all, try to believe that this is most definitely the happiest time of the year when new beginnings can lead you to your own special joy and peace.
Thanks for listening . . .