Calhoun is a Saranac Lake native, but she moved to Wisconsin to be with her dad a couple of years ago, escaping “tensions” in her personal life here. Now, she wants to match that physical move with a shift in her mentality — she wants to start looking to the future instead of looking back, to choose happiness rather than ruminating on past hardships. For Calhoun, playing the fiddle is one way of making that shift; she sees playing the instrument as both an escape and a celebration of present moments.

“My violin is my most useful tool,” she said. “I play it and nothing else matters. The beauty of music and the smiles I’m seeing (today) … it just helps me forget about everything.”

On Friday afternoon, she played an original song inspired by a love poem her great-grandfather wrote to her great-grandmother. Calhoun calls the piece “Oh, the music,” and it’s one of her favorites to play. She closed her eyes and smiled as she played, afterward singing the words of the song a capella.

Diane Brunovsky and her daughter Michele Kelly said they’ve also found positive inspiration from art. They’ve both recently read books that have encouraged them to drop their fears from this year and spread more kindness in the New Year.

Local high schoolers Amelia Willette (left), of Malone, and Izabella Blair, of Saranac Lake, smile in Saranac Lake on Friday. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

Brunovsky, a New Jersey native, just finished reading a biography about Fred Rogers, the creator and host of the television show “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood.” She said the book lists three steps to “ultimate success” — kindness, kindness and more kindness. That “rang a bell” with Brunovsky.

Kelly, a part-time Lake Placid resident, said she learned a similar lesson from a book she received on Christmas Eve at St. Agnes Church in Lake Placid. The book encouraged its reader to find “holy moments” in small acts of kindness, like opening a door for a stranger. Those acts can help to create and radiate positivity to others, Kelly said.

Local high schoolers Amelia Willette and Izabella Blair said 2022 has been rough for a lot of people. Getting back to “normal” day-to-day life in the third year of the coronavirus pandemic has been hard for them and their friends, according to Blair. She’s seen people lose their motivation to go out and see each other after being on their own for so long.

“I really, really want to leave behind in 2022 that lack of motivation and bring positive feelings and happiness, and the willingness to go out and change things,” Blair said.

There’s been a lot of negativity in the media lately, she added, and she hoped people could disconnect from the bad and reconnect with the good. She said she’s been thinking of a line from the song “Vienna,” by Billy Joel, lately: “Take the phone off the hook and disappear for a while.”

Mother and daughter pair Michele Kelly (left) and Diane Brunovsky smile together in Saranac Lake on Friday. They're hoping to spread more kindness in the New Year. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)

“I think that’s what everybody needs to do, is just chill out and just live in the moment,” Blair said.

Olivia Tadlock, a University of Delaware student who moved to Saranac Lake with her mom Andrea this past August, is also looking forward to a smoother year in 2023. She studied in Italy for a semester this year, and combined with her family’s move from the midwest to this village, she’s ready to take it easy. Meanwhile, Andrea is looking forward to new beginnings and adventures. She just finished her master’s degree in information technology, and now she’s looking to get her Ph.D. and teach in a college setting.

Mother and daughter Andrea (left) and Olivia Tadlock, of Saranac Lake, pose in Saranac Lake on Friday. After a year of moving and traveling, they’re looking forward to settling in and starting new adventures in 2023. (Enterprise photo — Lauren Yates)