CARPE DIEM
Say nothing......
rosprynn © 2005
Back when I was in
journalism school,
one of the things we
were taught was that
if we were sent out
on a story, we HAD
to come back with
something. The
editor had allotted
us so many column
inches and, if we
came back with
nothing, there would
be a gap in the
paper. Empty spaces
in a newspaper are
certain 'death'. Oh
- the pressure! I
remember very
vividly being sent
to do a story about
a labour dispute.
The expectation was
that I would
interview people on
the picket line, and
also someone from
management. (Despite
proof to the
contrary, we were
'trained' to do
balanced stories.)
Insightful quotes
were the order of
the day. Well, I
went off, notepad in
hand, microphone
ready and, I
couldn't find the
picket line! Freak
out time. Like all
good journalists
though, I DID find a
story; I ended up
writing about how
the picketers had
donated their
doughnuts to a food
bank, and
interviewing the
organizer of the
food bank, which in
turn was a much
better story.
Because of that
'coincidental'
meeting, I went on
to other, more
important, projects.
But no, no
insightful quotes
from the management.
Today is not
journalism school,
and I do not have to
fill any column
inches. One of the
things I have
learned over the
years is that if I
have nothing to say,
then nothing is what
it will be. The
world will NOT end
because I have not
filled the 'empty'
space.
Real life is like
that. We all know
people who need to
have their voices
heard; people who
have an opinion on
everything, and
always fill the
quiet with their
opinions.
Journalists LOVE
those people -
really! (and yes
-for a while that
WAS me - I confess!)
Over time, we all
learn to be more
considered in what
we say, even as I
understand the prime
time show Seinfeld
was a show about
"nothing". I never
saw that show but
from what I have
read, they managed
to say a lot of
nothing about
anything and
everything!
Today I have nothing
to say, and I am
comfortable with
that. As I listen
to the news, and
others around me, I
wonder how different
our world would be,
for all of us if,
instead of looking
to others to 'tell'
us their truths,
share their
expertise (and add
our own voices to
the noise), we took
time to listen to
our own 'voices',
paid attention to
what our own hearts
tell us.
To me, silence is
indeed golden. So
today - I am going
to do and say
'nothing'. Care to
join me? In silence
is the answer to
everything.
Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!
-30-