finding your way through a storm

Today’s blogging challenge was to share a song lyric or a phrase that has meaning to me. The lyric I am choosing comes from the song “When You Walk Through the Dark,” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein (Carrousel). In this blog post, I’m going to explain why it’s important to me and the work that I do.

When you walk through the storm
Hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm is a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark

As a journalist, I write about every topic imaginable. Many are fun, such as parades and kayak trips, while others are more challenging and emotional, such as stories about people who died in wars and people who suffered through great pain and difficult treatments in their efforts to survive cancer. Sometimes, I learn about how storms can be internal. I have written about mental health and about how, at times, we really struggle for it. The isolation of the COVID-19 lockdown was one time when mental health felt elusive.

But that storm. Doesn’t it feel relentless? And isn’t it relentless when you are writing about it regularly? Journalism is, in the way I view it, a method of creating a journal for the community. It is a way to document the life that we are all experiencing. And when there are hurdles or barriers, documenting becomes difficult, especially if you feel your words as you’re writing them.

And that’s why it’s so necessary to remember the golden sky and the rainbow. They don’t last long because, as Robert Frost said, “Nothing golden can stay.” Even memories change over time, which is why memory alone is an unreliable way to record history. And that’s where journalism comes in. We record history, as it’s happening, as a way to preserve memory. Sometimes, we are recording the wonderful moments of people’s lives: when they win awards or scholarships, when they become Eagle Scouts, when the town issues a proclamation in their honor. And, other times, we are recording the sadder experiences of the town.

The experience of documenting the life of a town has taught me that everything happens in cycles, like the weather. It’s warm and then it’s cold. The flowers grow and then they fall away. The river is warm and fun for kayaking and swimming and then, it gets cold and icy. These are experiences we share, which is why they need to be documented. And, because we share experiences, we are not alone in our joy or our sadness. Even when we feel most alone, we don’t really walk alone.

Walk on, through the wind
Walk on, through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you'll never walk alone
You'll never walk alone