Hopes for the year of the Tiger

Joanne Harrell
Seattle First Lady

Joanne Harrell

My wish for 2022 is that we get past the pandemic and emerge with a dedication to healthy outcomes and disease prevention for all people. I’d love to see this new year be one where “all boats rise”—we see greater prosperity for all, underpinned by a keener sense of hope, a renewed belief in our democratic principles and a commitment to justice across all parts of our nation for every resident.

Y.P. Chan
Principal, Chanden Inc.

Y.P. Chan at Smith Rock State Park (Courtesy Y.P. Chan)

To stay in shape and get my mind off the pandemic, I hiked (or snow-shoed) with friends most weekends. This year, the places I hiked and visited included Annette Lake, Hex Mountain, Sugarloaf Mountain and Mount Erie, Lake Easton State Park, Blue Mountain, Kendall Peak Lake, Oyster Dome, Bandera Mountain/Mason Lake, Thunder Knob Trail/Ross Dam/Diablo Lake Overlook, Ebey’s Landing, Twin Peaks, Mailbox Peak, Wallace Lake/Falls, Kachess Ridge, Rattlesnake Ledge and East Peak, Easton Ridge, Twin Lakes, Rattlesnake Dance Ridge and Umtanum Peak Canyon, Whiskey Dick Wildlife Area and Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility, Snow Lake/Gem Lake, Gold Creek Pond, and Amabilis Mountain. In addition, I went with 10 friends on a five-day long hiking trip to Central Oregon in May, visiting Dog Mountain (in Washington), John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Park, Cover Palisades, and Smith Rock.

My hopes for 2022 are:

Covid-19 would become an endemic, allowing people to go back to relatively normal lives
U.S. and Chinese leaders have the wisdom to work together, instead of more instability and confrontation, for the good of both nations and the world
On the personal front, I wish for continuing personal growth, love for each other, and staying healthy for all family members

Phyllis Campbell
Chairman of the Pacific Northwest, JPMorgan Chase

Phyllis Campbell

As we welcome in the Lunar New Year, may it be a year filled with hope, optimism, and new beginnings offering endless opportunities. Happy Year of the Tiger!

Ross Ishikawa
Artist and co-illustrator of “We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration”

Ross Ishikawa

While there certainly have been recent challenges, I still am hopeful for the coming year.

After years of weekend toil, two side projects are reaching their conclusion: a graphic novel I was illustrating was published, and a large construction project I was building wraps up this spring. So I see 2022 as a year enjoying the fruits of these labors, and being able to devote more time reconnecting with family and friends.

Our son graduates from high school this year and we are hopeful that he will be able to carry out his plan to spend a year in Japan. He is hoping to explore his roots and hone the language skills he learned in Seattle’s wonderful bilingual school program.

These hopes depend on this pandemic transitioning to an endemic, which brings up a more global hope for 2022. We’ve all had a tough couple of years with high stress and uncertainty. But I see change brewing, with people pushing reset buttons everywhere, rethinking their priorities, changing their pace, and looking for genuine and new solutions to old problems of an ossified status quo.

I’m not sure when these changes will manifest, but as a Year of the Tiger baby myself, this year seems as good a time as any.

Soo Ing-Moody
Mayor of Twisp

Soo Ing-Moody

The past couple of years of a prolonged pandemic have understandably been challenging times for most everyone. What has kept me grounded is the recognition that, pandemic or not, life has always been full of uncertainty. As such, this time of our lives has not changed my belief in the amazing beauty of life and our role in it. In my life, I’ve been humbled at various times, by the reality that as individual humans, we can only do our active part to strive (ideally, to the best of our ability for the common good) to promote positive outcomes, while respecting that in the end, we must succumb to and respect the other forces in motion. This is not always a bad thing.

My hope for 2022 is that as a society, in our communities, we individually and actively put effort into pursuing positive outcomes that bring joy to ourselves and those around us; while continuously maintaining the gratitude in our hearts for the simple opportunity and ability to contribute to making our world a better place. For all, I wish for great joy in simply being! Happy 2022!

Dr. Wei Fang
Physician at Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, California

Dr. Wei Fang

For healthcare workers like me, I’m expecting this year, like the past two years, to be hard.

But healthcare is what I believe I was put on this Earth to do, and I’m looking forward to keep fighting this pandemic. My biggest hope for this new year is for all of us to finally learn from our mistakes and from each other to really tackle COVID-19 and our increasingly politically divided climate.

State Rep. My-Linh Thai

State Rep. My-Linh Thai

Happy Lunar New Year! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới – Nhà Nhà An Vui!

I am so happy to be in a community that celebrates the Lunar New Year. This is the fourth time we have celebrated this happy occasion at the legislature and it is a good reminder that our Asian communities are resilient, strong, and courageous. We persevere and we have endured so much. I am proud to see us stand united against everything that has challenged us in the last year. I wish everyone health, happiness, and prosperity in the Year of the Tiger.