Image Credit: Evgenyatamanenko / Dreamstime.com

By Daniela Ginta

The Way I See It

GINTA: Wishes for the new year

Dec 30, 2019 | 11:10 AM

WITH EVERY STEP, the snow crunches under our feet. The dog runs ahead and occasionally saunters in yet another futile attempt to catch a vole or a mouse. She then plunges into the snow and rolls with such delight, it’s impossible not to smile. It’s the wildest version of a snow angel. Pure joy expressed through a miniature snowstorm with a dog’s furriness at the center of it.

We plod along through the forest, red cheeks and all, and the landscape is wondrous. The sun shines through the branches; they are heavy with snow and there’s a sprinkle of tiny flakes every time a bird flies through the trees.

It never ceases to amaze me: being close to nature and away from the busyness of daily life we so often get lost in — by necessity often — feeds the soul in a way nothing else can. And, without fail, every time I step outside – no matter how close or far from home, I find myself pleasantly swept by a whirlpool of thoughts. One big reason why I believe every one of us can benefit from time outside is you get to see inside yourself a bit more and ponder. That’s good and necessary.

This time around, my thoughts have to do with the year that we are about to say goodbye to. The happenings I have come across this year, the people I’ve met and the many others I got to know better — myself included — and the things that left a mark.

Firstly, the realization many times over of what a privilege it is to live where we live. That feeling of seeing the surrounding Kamloops landscape, every day the same and every day anew — what a gift! I said it many times that both nature and people are beautiful here.

The Tattle of Hastings

THE TATTLE OF HASTINGS: Airing it out

22m ago

Question of the Week

Are you concerned for your safety following drug related violence in Kamloops?

May 06, 2024

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Governments need a change of plans to deal with the drug crisis

May 05, 2024

This year we learned that Kamloops is the most generous GoFundMe community in Canada. I hope the ripples of generosity keep expanding because that is the kind of place I love being in and belonging to. Hence one of my wishes for the new year: that people keep on caring about each other. Every bit counts and no small contribution is too small.

In a troubled world like ours is at times, it matters that we find pockets of goodness – in people, in places, in the things we do. Take reading for example. I will never get tired of bookstores — my personal favourites being the small locally owned ones, which I wish and hope will keep existing in Kamloops — and libraries. Mighty wonderful places to be and get lost in.

A few of the many books I took home this year from our local library (and thank you to the gracious librarians who respond to my request for new titles) have left an indelible mark: The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr; High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-discovery that Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society by Carl Hart; The Art of Communicating by Thich Nhat Hanh; By Chance Alone: A Remarkable True Story of Courage and Survival at Auschwitz by Max Eisen, and Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina. A special one from our home library that invites to kindness and compassion is In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté.

We grow so much in mind and heart when we read. My wish is that we see the reading and growing-through-knowledge opportunities — music included! — around our community increase. That’s what breeds compassion and understanding that can help us work through the differences that are inherent to… well, being human.

Last but never least, the people. I am privileged to know many people whose lives’ journeys have been anything but easy, and yet they greet life every day with open hearts and minds. Humbling, yes. Then there are the community builders. I have come to know and work alongside remarkable people, many of them volunteers, who work tirelessly to improve life in our community and inspire others to do the same.

Each new year adds to the belief that life’s preciousness is revealed through the goodness of people and the happenings that keep hope alive.

I wish everyone a plentiful year in the things that matter: heartfulness, kindness, time to be in nature, time to be creative, time with loved ones. Time to laugh and hug and be wonderfully quiet when silence is what brings souls together. Time to just be and appreciate each moment. May we all be reminded to never take even one day for granted.

——

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.