Dearest Readers, thank you for supporting and helping us grow over the last year. We hope we were able to serve you well and provide a platform for your stories.
We have grown and changed much in the last year. In 2023, we hope to continue our trajectory of growth as a paper and as individuals.
Last year was a turbulent one, but as always, we will start 2023 with hope, optimism and confidence.
I’m not really one for resolutions. It’s hard for me to make goals that exist primarily because a new period of time is beginning. I’m also not someone that makes very clear goals for myself.
Rather, I do many things on a whim. I try to do what feels like an alright thing in the moment. Then, I stick to the decision.
That’s why I got into writing. That’s why I worked through a thesis. That’s why I applied to this job that introduced me to you all.
Right now, talking to you like this, feels alright.
Just as last year and the year before and the year before that was very turbulent, I think this year will also have its ups and downs.
Still, we ended up alright, and we’ll be alright come December.
I belong to the school of thought that posits that everything will be fine. I’m not sure what it’s called, but that’s also fine.
Perhaps this confidence is unearned, perhaps this outlook is contrary to evidence.
But it’s easier to be hopeful when you’re not hoping for too much.
It’s okay if your resolutions are just to read more or continue being really nice or anything small and simple. It’s okay if they require you to completely overhaul some aspect of yourself to become a better person.
It’s also okay if you just don’t have any.
Your goals should reflect not only who you want to be, but also who you are. They should accomodate your situation and work with you, rather than making you feel incompetent for not achieving unrealistic ideals.
If you achieve them, that’s great! Drink some champagne on my behalf. If you don’t achieve them, that’s fine! Drink some champagne on my behalf.
TCE will continue to be a platform for you to share stories and also to introduce new ideas to new people.
We will continue to build relationships in our community and create space for more and more people within these pages.
We will continue to be more aware of the challenges facing our community and community members.
We hope that more of you will also join us in creating this year’s editions. In February, we will have a series of workshops in collaboration with the Kitchener Public Library. Attendees will learn about writing, interviewing, finding resources and other skills required to write a strong article.
This first issue is a short one, but this year we will have many more stories from and about you.
And when we look back in December, we’ll see good friends and fun times and everything turning out alright.