Lately I don’t seem to be able to get enough of classical music when working through a new idea or seemingly tough concept; and listening has been helpful when it’s felt hard not to worry about choosing the right words when attempting to communicate what feels like an important message. But I was heartened today to come across a Ludwig van Beethoven quote asserting that “to play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable,” and, while I have been focused a little more on authenticity than passion exactly, I felt comforted.

Particularly as the country heals from another election cycle for proper representation, I’ve continued to feel so misrepresented by those who claim to speak for women in journalism but whom I have never met that it still feels right to write about this predicament.

On News

This week, I found myself wondering about what ever happened to a precious little baby orphan elephant I got to meet while visiting Nairobi several years ago (and who inspired a character in my book) and – literally – the very next day I noticed online a bulletin from the extraordinary nonprofit who raised her updating their followers that she had just given birth. The video uploaded, including celebratory trumpeting from this sweet mother ele’s family of herd mates, was such a sound for sore ears, so to speak, I listened to it again.

It is the sight and the sound of real-life progress experienced by those who do what they say, I am finding – it is not generally Hollywood programming – that seems to do my heart such good today and, especially as the irritants of illusory claims that the matter of gender-based abuse within news corporations has been solved still seem to abound, this balm felt particularly soothing.

Just the other day, I received a brief message from an acquaintance who knew I was going through something difficult and it resonated deeply in my heart, not because it was perfectly eloquent or elaborate, but, rather, because it was authentic.