I started writing occasional columns for the Times Colonist in 2017, the first one was in June and, around September, I started writing weekly. In the nearly seven years of writing this column, there have been less than a handful of times I have missed a week. Each time I did, readers would send me emails asking about that missing column.
When I was first asked to start writing columns, I eagerly said “yes” and then got worried. I wasn’t sure if people would read them, or if I was good enough. I read other columns, and worried that my writing style and opinions weren’t the same. I worried I would submit a column and get fired.
In hindsight, I realize that opinion columns in a publication should be different, no one wants to read a page of opinions that are all the same.
Times Colonist publisher and editor Dave Obee told me when I started that a new columnist would generally last about 10 weeks. I heard “10 weeks” and decided that was my goal. I didn’t want to get fired before I reached it. When I lasted 10 weeks my next goal was one year.
I never expected that I would have continued to write this column for all these years.
The number of emails I’ve received from readers, and readers approaching me in public to comment on my columns, has been overwhelming and humbling.
For a column I once worried no one would read, it was a surprise to know that my thoughts, stories and experiences were impactful to others.
There is something magical about strangers telling me that I am a good, wise, kind person, and that they are happy to share a city with me. I don’t know if I can convey my feelings into words, other than “Thank you.”
Writing a column each week, and finding topics, hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes it was easy to have a topic and write about something I was passionate about. Other weeks, I would have to dig deeper to find a topic.
Sometimes, the columns I wrote on a tough week would get a lot of exposure and shares online. They were happy surprises.
One week I wrote a column that I knew wasn’t the best topic, and a reader sent me an email asking why I didn’t pick a better topic. I didn’t reply to that email, but I wanted to reply honestly saying, “I know it wasn’t the best topic, I had a deadline, and it was the best I could do.”
Over the years, I’ve had many people tell me they read my column first each week. I never expected to have that kind of support from readers.
Whenever someone asks me how I’ve managed to write this column for so many years, I always reply: “The readers.”
The readers with whom I have connected through this column have helped me grow not just as a writer, but as a person who is far more confident now than I was when I started. I am the most comfortable being myself than I ever have been in my life.
There is something beautiful and special about readers who take time to reach out and share their kind words. I want you to know they really do make an impact.
Being an Indigenous columnist and writing about Indigenous issues is something that I will always cherish. I have had readers write me and thank me for my columns and tell me that my column changed their opinion or view on topics. I’ve had Indigenous leaders and community members approach me and thank me for writing my columns and sharing Indigenous perspectives with the greater community. Part of that “Thank you” goes to the Times Colonist for providing the platform.
Having a weekly column in this newspaper has been a privilege and honour, and I am so grateful to Dave Obee and the Times Colonist for providing me the opportunity. The opportunity to write and share my thoughts, but mostly for the opportunity to connect with the community and to connect with readers who want to share their views, and personal stories that stem from the columns and opinions I’ve shared.
It’s been a journey, and I am so grateful to the readers who have joined me along the way.
I raise my hands to all of you, thank you.
Charla Huber is an Indigenous communications consultant based in the capital region. Her family is from Beausoleil First Nation and Fort Chipewyan.
