Time flies when you’re having fun.
Two years of column writing and an absolute coincidence that I’ve timed this column right.
6 October 2021 was the first Wednesday edition I contributed to as a columnist, and while I thought
I’d missed the anniversary this year, a quick sift through my files, and I found the date.
An old soul on one hand and a modern livewire on the other.
I love a good newspaper and community-focused local radio station just as much as I love technology, which enables efficiency.
It’s a blend of two worlds which brings grounding and excitement in parallel.
Reflecting on the topics over these two years, the variety is evident.
What I thought was a small business column invitation has been an avenue to safely explore the art of writing with an audience, one word at a time.
At this point, I will share that I truly appreciate those who read each week and go out of their way to
stop me and tell me what they’ve enjoyed.
I also love and appreciate the recent comment, ‘I enjoy your column, sometimes, you write good things’ I didn’t stop to ask what was good and what wasn’t because it is for the reader’s enjoyment and their interpretation, not to feed my ego.
If I had known in primary school that my writing would be displayed weekly, perhaps I would have
paid more attention in Mrs. Daley’s Year six class.
She was a stickler for a good English lesson and, upon reflection, a brilliant teacher I couldn’t appreciate at the time, thanks to youth.
It’s only in adulthood that we realise the standout influences of our childhood and how they’ve shaped us today.
I imagine that being a Teacher and an Early Childhood Educator must be a gratifying job, with its
challenges of course.
To have a direct impact on another person’s life at an influential time in their journey, without even realising how significant of a contribution it is.
I love our local newspaper and radio stations because they’re run by people who live and breathe
our community.
It’s not always roses here in good old Rock Vegas and surrounds but they band together to capture our history, as it happens.
Recently, my family found a box, and it was filled with a collection of exceptional items.
They were bought and collected over the years by my Grandmother, Glenda Ross, with the intention of leaving a piece to each daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter.
A collection of precious plates and cottages I used to admire in a display cabinet, knowing that one
day, one of them would have a prized position in my home.
An example of another clash of old soul and modern-day woman, a wall of laptops, tablets and Google Homes against a backdrop of glass display cabinets filled with precious memorabilia, including teapots, cups, saucers and plates.
It was only a few weeks ago when I wondered what had happened to the collection because it had
been over 11 years since my grandma passed.
Never one to be possessive or argue and fight over material things, I presumed the collection was somewhere safe and loved.
As quickly as the thought decided to occupy my headspace, a series of unprompted events meant a
random box was found in a family member’s home, filled with the collection.
And what accompanied it?
Two newspapers from 2008.
Of course, they weren’t CQ Today newspapers, but it’s not hard to guess which one they were.
At this moment, I was reminded of how valuable our printed newspapers are.
In an age of digital hoarding, clickbait, Photoshop and edit upon edit, the printed newspaper remains timeless and captures history at the time it happens, in print and without the option to edit.
A timekeeper, too, in this instance, as I remember what my grandmother was doing in 2008 as she
packed up her collection to put in a safe place, four years before her passing.
The written word is a powerful tool for passing on our messages, lessons and stories.
It also helps demonstrate how we write and speak today for future generations to review.
In the mind and heart of every writer lies a lifetime of stories to share.
In the ink of every columnist is the pulse of society.
Both are architects of thought, painting worlds and perspectives one word at a time.
