Having It All

Photo via WeHeartIt

The other morning on the way to work, the radio program I was listening to did a segment on having it all. Each of the hosts made a list of the things they would need to have in their lives to achieve it. What they found was that actually going through this process opened their eyes to the things they already had and the things they needed to work on. So I thought, why not?

Now, obviously I thought about this for a long time before I actually sat down to write. For me, having it all is all about happiness and fulfillment in all aspects of my life. Some areas, I'm already there. Other areas need work, which is where this exercise was especially enlightening for me. It's amazing how easy it is to just go with the flow for no other reason than you've gotten comfortable with the flow. But let me tell you something - comfortable isn't always fulfilling.

The biggest thing I realized, or maybe I should say admitted to myself, is that there's something missing in my career. I never set out to do what I'm doing, and yet, I've been doing it for seven years. That's not to say I don't enjoy it. I do. I get to make a difference in people's lives, tell their stories and keep them informed.

But I truly miss print journalism.

I miss seeing my name in a byline. I miss the smell of the ink, the warmth of a freshly-printed issue. I miss design, talking about inches and adjusting the kerning to get in that last word.

My entire high school and college career was spent dreaming of working for a newspaper and/or magazine, and I watched my dreams turn into just that in 2008. The industry is dying and jobs are few and far between; that's how I got into the broadcast side of things in the first place. And while the news aspect remains the same, the means of reaching that end are so very different.

Truth be told, I don't know that I see a future where I'm working in print journalism - not a realistic one, at least. But that doesn't mean my creative soul will stop yearning for the things broadcast can never deliver on. So I've been searching for ways to fill that hole. This blog helps keep me partly connected to my roots, but it's not enough. I don't know what will be enough, but I won't stop searching for it.