Day 1: Stay Positive

In the same way we started, so we conclude.

Keeping a positive mindset has proven extremely challenging through all of this. And it’s not over yet.

Not only are we concluding 90 days of positivity, but we are concluding nearly 20 years of positive changes in the community. We didn’t know that this second scenario would come about, nor that it would align with this 90th post. But as you know… synchronicities abound.

Two decades, years of dedication from a small staff team, and thousands of volunteer hours were taken to the curb by Town Council.

Your town will be different. The things that made it unique, the aspects that attracted new businesses and families here have been jeopardized. You will in good time recognize what has been done here… watch for it. (This makes at least six more names to add to my annual submission to Karma.)

But I can already see that some positive shifts are lining up for your future. I have been calling 2020 “The Year of the Great Awakening”. 

As I mentioned to my former colleague, maybe our demise was necessary in order to clear the path for these long-overdue changes. Perhaps it is for the best in the long term, if it shakes people out of a place of comfort and complacency.

I’m pretty certain that after 90 days of reading these posts, you have come to realize that our true spirits are loving and creative. Only ego seeks control and suppression.

It’s my sincere hope that I ignited in you a new curiosity; to explore your own perceptions of the world, to question the messages you’ve been fed and see in the media, to examine the motives behind the actions of others – and yourself when necessary – and to tune in to your own inner wisdom.

Please continue to look up. Please continue to seek silver linings. Find things for which to be grateful. Always seek a better feeling thought, even when it feels near impossible. It IS possible. It is a very purposeful decision to find that vibration. Every. Single. Day.

I hope too that you have come to understand that mental health is a struggle for many. You’ve had a glimpse in these past 90 days of how depression and hopelessness can pull us down – it’s why they are called “the depths of despair”. Please remember that some people live their whole lives like this. Kindness and compassion are what they need.

One final thought:

In my childhood oh so long ago, kids could play around the neighbourhood all summer, breezing about between friends’ houses with hardly a care in the world. It was wonderful. And at the end of a long day outside, mothers would simply turn on the front porch light to signal their children:

“It’s time to come home.”

When we closed the office to COVID in March we said that we wanted to “leave the porch light on for our community”. We weren’t sure how we would do that.

So we got creative, found our opportunities where they were apparent to us, and took action. You can see them here. (No really, go see this list. We were pretty darn impressive.)

I trust that these posts contributed to that sense of home, that someone was here, waiting for you, looking forward to welcoming you back.

Sadly, Town Council turned off the community’s porch light. The light that was Olds Institute and Everything Olds has been extinguished.

It’s been a pleasure and an honour serving this community for the past 4 years, and to have lived here for over 30.

Just remember: A candle loses nothing my lighting another.

Spread the light, my friends.

Stay well.

Patti