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Small Business Spotlight: Vernon bookstore specializes in more than literature

Expressions of Time is a beloved asset to the local business community
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Morning Star columnist Sam McNair puts the business spotlight on Expressions of Time in his latest article. (Sam McNair - Contributed)

There is something to be said about the allure of an old-fashioned book.

Humans spend so much time obsessed with the future and the technology it holds, that they easily lose sight of the activities which made the past so enjoyable.

At Expressions of Time, Charlene Deuling has made her hobbies into a business that caters to like-minded souls; offering books both used and new in an effort to bring not just the latest bestsellers to the table, but the kind of books that her generation grew up with.

Now, ‘hobbies’ implies that Deuling’s business offers not just books, but other amenities as well.

Those amenities consist of jewelry both new and antique, as well as rocks and crystals, with many pieces said to have metaphysical properties.

It seems odd at a distance to think that books, jewelry and rocks should be found all in one place, but Deuling explains it like this: “I come from a family of antique diggers. I was in Vancouver around the early ’90s, doing antique shows and those sorts of things… Then I got into jewelry because it was the easiest to find and wasn’t hard to carry.”

She soon became more and more fascinated with jewelry, enthralled by the history and the stories that came with the pieces she found.

She bought books on the subject, studying different eras and designers in the interest of learning all she could about this new passion of hers. And as time passed ever onward, she added rocks and crystals in an effort to expand her clientele.

Expressions of Time can be compared to hobby shops in a way, existing as a place where someone can pay tribute to simpler things, and allow the complexity of today’s world drift off to the back of their mind.

The human brain needs rest just as much as the rest of the body, and there is arguably no better way to relax than to read a classic while your negative energies are expelled by the rose quartz you have positioned around the room.

Sam McNair is a fan of adventure novels, as well as writing about the people and places that make Vernon a great place to live. He got his diploma in Writing and Publishing from Okanagan College in 2020.

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