January 12

I walked away from one of my roles in the community yesterday. It was with an uncertain heart that I resigned my position from The Greater Westside Board of Trade. Time is the most precious asset we have, donating my time to something I no longer felt engaged with was unfair to the board and myself.

I loved being a part of something bigger in the community and I was honoured to have been nominated to serve on the board. It was an exciting time when they asked me to be the VP with the idea that I would become the next president in 2021. One year ago I looked forward to becoming a leader in the business community and was looking forward to my expanded role as president.

Covid changed all that.

In March 2020 when the world went into lockdown I rediscovered my muse. I re-evaluated where I was and where I wanted to be. I wanted to become a writer. Being President began to weigh on me.

Then came Zoom meetings.

I have to admit I intensely dislike Zoom meetings. I understand the need for them and welcomed the chance to remain somehow virtually connected. But it is not the same as in-person interactions. I guess I am getting old but to try to stay engaged with a meeting of a group of people I found it difficult. I felt like I wasn’t getting anything from the meetings and wanted to get back to seeing people in person. As a political animal, the Board of Trade can’t proceed in person with networking or other forms of meetings. For me, I really had to look deep inside and decide where my future was with the organization.

It certainly wasn’t online.

The Board has so many great people committing their time and resources I wanted to be engaged and involved. But with all the restrictions everything went virtual. Fortunately for the GWBOT they have some wonderful people that can and do excel at online meetings. Some of these people were built to transition things to the computerized world. It became obvious early on in Covid I was not the person to lead the Board into the virtual world.

When 2020 ended I looked inside myself and what I wanted in my life moving forward. One year ago I would have told you I would be the next president of the board and then look at moving into politics. Now I have thought hard about what I want to do with the rest of my life. Zoom meetings are not one of those things. I know eventually, we will return to in-person events. One day when the virus is under control we will move forward with being able to be together in the same room again.

My last meeting with the board went like many of my recent meetings. I couldn’t log into the zoom meeting on my phone and all I could do was call in. My frustration was complete and it showed me that I made the right choice. I will leave the board to their virtual world and carry on with my real one.

The rest of my day was spent in fantastic snow, skiing powder turns at Big White. I had no regrets and look forward to more freedom.

I wish the GWBOT all the best and will help where and when I can. I look forward to the day we can see each other at a business after hours and shake hands again.

Life is short. Do what you love and what makes you happy. I know I am.