Every year as the holidays approach, I find myself thinking about how quickly we all start moving. We rush from meeting to meeting, scroll through endless online deals, juggle calendars full of holiday events, and try to make everything look effortless. Somewhere in that flurry, we forget to look up and see the very thing that makes this season special. It is not the shopping or the sales. It is us. It is this community.
Maybe it is the Chamber CEO in me, but I have always been fascinated by how the holidays bring out our best intentions. We want to show up for one another. We want to give. We want to feel connected. Yet somehow, the noise around us gets louder every year. The national headlines continue to be full of division. The pressure to consume continues to grow. The holidays become a checklist instead of a celebration.
This year, I am encouraging all of us to step back and return to something simpler. Let’s make this season about community again. Let’s remember that we have everything we need right here in Mesa County.
Take the famous Black Friday tradition. It originally began as a way to help retailers get into the black at the end of the year. Today it often looks like a competitive shopping marathon, complete with the occasional elbows-out scramble for a discounted TV. But when I think about “being in the black,” I think about our local shop owners who work all year to keep their doors open. They are the ones who create jobs and opportunities, who sponsor your kid’s school fundraiser, who greet you by name before you even reach the counter. Supporting them is not about a day on the calendar. It is about making sure the people who make our valley vibrant continue to thrive.
Of course, Cyber Monday will still arrive with its long list of tempting deals. I am not suggesting anyone unplug entirely. But even that tradition can be rooted in community if we choose it. Most of our local businesses have websites, online stores, or digital gift cards. Shopping local can happen from your couch with a cup of cocoa. It just takes a little intention.
And as we move into the season of giving, that same intention matters. Our Valley is a tapestry of incredible nonprofits that shape life here in Mesa County. These organizations support families, care for kids, protect animals, build skills, strengthen neighborhoods, and provide hope. They depend on us. If you can give financially, it makes a difference. If you cannot, your time, your voice, and your encouragement matter just as much. Volunteer for a few hours. Share a post. Attend an event. Tell someone they are doing meaningful work. Generosity has many forms.
What if this year we decided to measure our holiday season not by how much we bought but by how much we connected? What if every time we interacted with a local business online, wrote a positive review, or recommended a shop or restaurant, we saw it as an act of community building? What if we slowed down long enough to thank the people working long hours so the rest of us can enjoy the season?
That is the Grand Junction I know. A place where people show up for one another. A place where we turn off the noise, ignore the divisiveness, and choose gratitude instead. A place where supporting local is not a slogan but a shared value.
We have a chance this season to remind ourselves of who we are. Connected. Grateful. Generous. Proud of our local businesses. Proud of our nonprofits. Proud of the community we continue to build together.
So let’s make this a season that feels like us. Let’s shop local, support local, give local, and cheer for the neighbors who make Mesa County home. Because when we lift one another up, we all end the year in the black.