Let’ s resolve to

My favourite story in The Courier this week was the one about Derek Bowman. You might know him better as Ginger Man With A Cam.

He’s the Fife carer who has become an internet sensation, thanks to his short videos about the towns and villages he’s visited across the glorious kingdom.

Now Fife is known for its picturesque charms.

St Andrews boasts golf and beaches and a university fit for a future king and queen.

The East Neuk is so beloved by second home buyers the locals can’t get a house there for love nor money.

But those are not the destinations that have won Derek the admiration of expats and Fife-ophiles the world over.

For it’s when he turns his attention to the kingdom’s less loved corners that the real magic happens.

Towns like Kennoway and Rosyth are unlikely to grace the pages of the Lonely Planet guide any time soon but through his lens they become places you’d love to spend the day in.

Methil is a favourite destination. The sea views are amazing. Newburgh is so friendly that a stranger welcomed him to her house for a cup of tea and some cake.

His most popular video is the one he made in Markinch, which has been viewed almost 50,000 times.

Ginger Man With A Cam’s unique selling point is to find something positive in every town he visits – even if it’s just a bench or a tree swing.

And that’s it. No side to him. No snark. Just a good guy doing something nice for other people to enjoy.

The internet and social media get the blame for many of society’s ills. Often rightly so.

We know that platforms like Facebook and Instagram are well aware of the harm they’re doing by fuelling outrage and feeding into young girls’ insecurities.

I see it in my own feeds. The Twitter pile-ons and the “Why aren’t you angry about this?” posts.

Like anything else, the internet is what you make of it.

Ginger Man With a Cam makes it a better place for everyone and that’s the energy I’m taking into 2022.

I saw someone writing that the reason New Year resolutions fail is because so many of them are about denying yourself things.

The secret is not to make them about giving up, but to resolve to do something that brings you joy.

It stands to reason.

January is too dismal a month for giving up those crumbs of comfort just because they make you fat or guilty.

So instead of quitting booze for Dry January, I guess you could reframe it as being kind to your liver and rediscovering a good night’s sleep.

And if Veganuary doesn’t rock your world, you could look on it as learning to love leeks and lentils.

Me? I’m resolving to learn phonetic language. Because I’ve been resolving to do it every year since round about 2001 and one of these times it might just magically happen.

Until it does, call centres had better buckle up for another year of M for Monkey, O for Orange, R for Robot…

My other resolution is also a positive one – and this one I’m determined to achieve. Take a 20-minute walk with the dog every lunchtime.

I recommend it.

I’ve met people I haven’t seen since the dark nights rolled in.

I’ve soaked up some serotonin-boosting light in the middle of the day.