Blindscentz: Welcoming A New Year and Opportunities

Where did 2025 go? As I look back, I am truly celebrating all of the wins much like new parents do with their child’s first few years.  This past year I passed some great milestones that included:

*First solo 5 km walk

*First solo trip to mall and nail spa

*First participation as a speaker  in a panel at a  UBC Conference

*First time making all my own travel arrangements.

*First solo trip via plane complete with gate changes to connecting flights

*Taught a winter solstice kundalini yoga class complete with a sound bath healing using my gong.

One never knows what they are capable of until they try. I definitely touched my edges in 2025. What I found on the other side of those edges that all this time it was only my fear and limited thinking that was stopping me. What I found on the other side of those edges was self-empowerment and the ability to keep moving forward in a life of purpose.

I have spent a considerable amount of time reading books of successful blind people. Their reflection offered tools and support on how to pivot when life throws a curve ball. Life can be hard for anybody. We each find a way to navigate those hard moments and more often than not come out of the experience wiser, stronger, kinder and more compassionate.

As I look forward into the new year, I continue to be so grateful for the simple things. I am also becoming quite aware that I have something important to give life. I will be curious as I watch it unfold.

I am currently working on two projects for the following year that include an event for International Women’s Day 2026 FSJ at the Lido Theater and an event called Grind for Gratitude that brings awareness to organ donation, heart transplant and the resiliency and capability of the blind and low vision community to be supported by CNIB and perhaps one other partner.

I see this coming year as a time that brings community back together. It takes a village to raise a child. Fort St. John has an opportunity to support wellness on so many levels. I hope to champion and support many opportunities that can help people navigate through the challenges of life that are just opportunities to gain experience and grow. How often do we grow if we never touch our edges. 

As I welcome in the new year, I was saying to my partner just the other day at what a blessing it is to have put down so many distractions in life. The vision loss has put away my desire to shop for needless things, to scroll indefinitely, to be overwhelmed by looking at all that must be done and to no longer judge or be judged by the world around me. This lack of outer vision has gifted me the opportunity to see so much more of the world from my heart. I have better boundaries and wonderful opportunities come my way if only I say yes.

The International Women’s Day 2026 FSJ will be an interactive day filled with story telling, learning tools of resiliency and self care as well as building connection among women of all ages and stages to support a community of wellness. If you are interested in sponsoring or supporting this event which will be held at the lido theater, please feel free to email me at blindscentz22@gmail.com

Edwina Nearhood is a long time Fort St. John resident sharing her vision loss journey.  Please remember, every person’s vision loss experience is as unique as they are.