Making a comeback

So…it’s been awhile…

For the past couple of weeks, I have realized how much I miss writing. I’ve been looking through old blog postings and thinking how (hopefully) I’ve matured during my nearly three-year break from blogging.

Most everyone who reads this will probably know that I hold a journalism degree and , when in college, I was an editor for my school’s student-produced newspaper.

Man, I miss it.

There’s something intoxicating about discovering and cultivating a story. To some, it’s the challenge of brevity–when your editor caps your epic tale at 500 words. To others, it’s thrill of working on a deadline. And finally, there are some who just want to make a name for themselves as the result of one’s misfortune (this is not true journalism, but I digress).

For me, it’s always been something else, though. It’s always been the people. Not just the team with whom you celebrate after winning all those awards. Your sources.

You’re talking to people at pivotal moments in their lives. A lot of times, they’re heartbroken, on the brink of tears.

But sometimes, they’re tears of joy.

As a journalist, you often cover stories that contain someone’s life-defining accomplishment. You tell stories that genuinely make the world a better place. You tell stories that no one would know of otherwise. And that’s what journalism is about, right? Giving a voice to the voiceless?

I think this video sums it up pretty well. Just to set a context: The reporter in this clip from one of my favorite TV shows just told the story of an elderly man who has been driving a horse-drawn carriage through central park for most of his life.

He’s had many celebrity patrons, including Micky Mantle, but at the end of the interview, he told the reporter that his proudest moment was that one–when his story was being told on TV.

Suddenly, the reporter, after spending the entire episode belittling her job and the station she works for, well…I’ll let you watch for yourself.

…you understand what I was getting at, right? The end was just a bonus

Anyway, I hope to be able to find time to return to writing here on a semi-regular basis. Even if being a professional reporter isn’t in the cards for me right now, writing…starting discussion…is personally enriching to me.

I truly hope I hope my readers and commenters–no matter how few of you there are–will likewise feel enriched.

grace and peace,

+Michael

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