Category: Community Conversations

This is not an Oprah Favourite Things List, because everything I could list, like my favourite chocolates, shoes, coffee and more, would highlight some of the great shops and boutiques in the valley, but unfortunately not all of them. So, I will focus on my list of favourite things that do not need to be purchased and are a gift to all of us who call this valley home.

In order to answer this enigma of what or who will make us happy and when this will be a permanent state of being, we must ultimately be in this world but not of this world. Before you discard this statement as something impractical and not realistic, let me assure you that there are now very concrete examples of why this is true.

As the last week of 2018 approaches, to the surprise of those who know me, I am speechless. Not because there are no topics to write about, believe me I have only begun to touch the tip of the “glacier” in the last three months, but simply from the context of the time of the year I am writing in.

There is a wind of change being experienced in the Comox Valley and I do not refer simply to the results of the recent municipal election. I have observed that it occurred more than thirty years ago, when non-profit organizations such as YANA (You Are Not Alone) and The Comox Valley Hospice Society, were first founded. Something brought new people to this community with innovative ideas and they partnered with those already here, ready to co-create. Today, the same thing is happening.

This question is never easy to answer at any age, but it is now the focus of a documentary about people who are choosing not to live with their new partner, if they even decide to continue having what we have currently been referring to as a relationship with “a significant other”. Since my arrival four months ago, it is a topic of conversation that has also unexpectedly been brought up in my first meeting with different residents of the Comox Valley. It is time for a community conversation.

When was the last time you set aside your Kindle and stepped into the true pages of a book? Let me give you a tour of what you are missing by reading in the two dimensional electronic world of the tablet. It starts at the library. The first thing I do when I arrive somewhere new is to check out the local library. It is where I find my first welcoming “hello” and I can check out the community board to learn about the interests of the residents. Afterwards, I usually peruse the shelves and find the section about local authors, local history and local points of interest.