Bring on the new year!

I know y'all aren't used to the chatterbox being so quiet, and I've had a number of friends and readers message me over the last little while to see if I was OK and why I hadn't updated my blog in a bit. 

For those of you who know me well, you know that a negative space isn't something I occupy well, and I've found over the years that it is during those times I tend to keep more to myself until whatever it is gets sorted out so I can get back to "normal," or at least as normal as this gal gets! 

Sometimes it takes a little longer to see the forest for the trees.. add in a gnarly cold, complete with all the trimmings -- a wonderful gift from our grandson, and there ya have it..

  

This time, it was my beloved hubby who shined the spotlight for me with a simple question.  He wanted to know what I was doing currently that couldn't be done anywhere, and the more I thought about it the more excited I got.  

I know that sounds crazy, in light of everything, but it's true.  

I started out last year thinking that I was going to dig into the heart of our communities and promote our local talent and local creatives.  In that, I have gotten to meet some truly wonderful people, and had the opportunity to let my "hats" play together as it were, allowing the reporter in me to ask the newbie questions, and allowing myself to expand my horizons.  I have to be honest, I met people in the community I knew from other worlds that had never had occasion to talk about their creative side.  

I'd envisioned it as an opportunity to hand-pick a platter of the finest our area has to offer, and serving it up in an effort to make some noise about how great our communities truly are -- in effect a natural extension of work I've already been doing with my role at Eastern Ontario Network (EON).  

Having hosted a couple of successful vendor markets as a means for fundraising, I began hosting a monthly vendor market as a means to help offset costs.  Though it started with vendors known to me, over the year I met a lot of wonderful new vendors and sampled a variety of new products.  It has been a pleasure. I've learned so much from you all this year, and I cherish the new friends I've made! They say that sometimes in life things don't turn out the way you planned -- I have learned that sometimes, when you least expect it, they turn out better than you'd ever considered that they might!  

I have always made a point of supporting our community, promoting community groups, area volunteers, youth groups, and of course volunteering myself, so it was only natural to include that in my promotion plans.  

I have always believed that if you were in a position to make a difference and did nothing, than you would have wasted the opportunity.  I make it a point to try not to waste much. 

This first year was a fabulous beginning, but we have only barely scratched the surface.  We have SO MUCH MORE to offer, and there is much left to do. 

This region has some of the most talented people in it that I have ever met..  and this is only the beginning! 

As I said in my previous post, this is not the end for me but simply a turning of a page -- a step in a slightly different direction.  I have been actively plotting for the new year.  

Stay tuned ~ A new chapter is about to begin..