Janet Ouchterlony started writing for the Wellness Almanac this year, after we got to chatting at the last Wellness Gathering.

Her Facebook posts are more than status updates – often stories and chock with insights – not to mention, she’s the only Pembertonian rad enough to be featured in SBC Resort Guide’s “People of Whistler” – as a verifiable “snow soul.” So, when she expressed some interest, I launched into recruiting mode.

She’s been posting pretty regularly to the Wellness Almanac since then, (you can check her gallery of posts here) and in between posts, worth following on instagram, if for nothing else than her uncanny ability to see love hearts and things to appreciate everywhere she goes.

Whether volunteering at local events, growing a couple of boys into good men, or talking walks in nature, her feed is always positive, and driven by a desire to inspire people to “try something new, improve your health, remain open, think differently, speak your mind, have children, challenge yourself, stay connected, learn, laugh, play, be spontaneous, celebrate life, be vulnerable, have an adventure, be grateful, not take yourself too seriously, get out into nature, write, film, sing, smile, or just be awesomely yourself.”

After I wrote a column about needing to take up meditation, Janet appeared at my door, bearing a CD on which she’d made a copy of some guided meditations from Deepak and Oprah: “a little something to help you get started on your meditation journey, should you choose to accept it.”

It was just another reminder to me that it really is true: it’s only when you change the I to WE that ILLNESS becomes WELLNESS. It might be trite, but it rings true.