Managers’ Desk
By Jennifer Hamilton
Welcome to 2025. It’s a brand-new year marked by the calendar showing us that we’ve made it yet another year. How lucky we are to be able to ring in the new year when not a single day or moment is promised to let alone a full year. So, with the start of 2025, I invite you to think about what you want to do, how this year might be different that the others, how you might actively participate in your life while you are here on earth.
Maybe you have noticed that you need to get out a bit more, that you’ve been feeling a bit lonely. There are countless clubs, organisations, and churches in our region that are always welcoming new members, so if something piques your interest, go for it.
Maybe you’re ready to expand your horizons a bit, maybe you want to take a trip, or at least plan a trip, or pick up a new genre of books at the library.
Maybe you’ve been so full of change that all you want is stability and routine, so you start making meal plans, and pencilling in dates in your calendar.
Stress can be major, and perhaps after the holiday season, you are ready to “stress less” and let things you can’t control roll of your back like water off a ducks back.
Maybe you realise that health is the important wealth, and you decide that you’re going to go for a walk more often – the walking/bike path along the coast is a great option with stable footing.
Maybe you want to just be happy, to consciously count your blessings, and share your good energy with yourself and others around you.
Perhaps you want to anchor your new year in with a word that encapsulates it, or a vibe that you want to remind yourself to tap into? If you do, think about how you want your 2025 to unfold, and label it with a word that feels good to you. Write that word down someplace where you’ll see it often.
The world celebrates the New Year, so why not ride the wave of energy and try something you’ve been wanting this year while you’re still here.
Jilly’s Desk – Layout Editor
Christmas is a special time of the year. It centres on family and on the Christian calendar, it is to celebrate the gift of God. The year has moved now to the next party which is centred on the celebration of the end of year and a new year. We now acknowledge that 2024 is going, going and on the 31st at midnight we say farewell.
Moving on from the family festivities of Christmas’s overwhelming eating and carol singing here in Australia we embrace the summer, dry, sunny, beach orientated. We go swimming at the beach, gather in camping places and festivals, being ourselves away from the strictures of professionalism, workplace and living in our cities. Our summer is a freedom outdoors in the southern summer, with large gatherings and parties.
Unfortunately, the parties leave behind a dearth of rubbish as had to be cleaned up after the wild Christmas party at Bronte Beach (just south of Bondi Beach NSW). Our planet, Earth needs recovery from our over population, where our behaviours can assist to heal.
Some of us are tireless volunteers who work over the summer cleaning up, fighting fires, and manning emergency response units. They are the marshals of the crowds and the keepers of the environment; we so eagerly visit and sometimes trash. Remember, to tread lightly while you get close to nature this summer.