I had a meeting this week with our local PBS station, exploring ideas stemming from our wonderfully successful “Wisdom in the Spotlight” production last November. I had no idea how it would go since I’d never done anything like this before. Yes, this is me being nervous.
Maybe I shouldn’t say things like this out loud? Maybe I should be all calm, cool and collected, pretend like I’ve done this a million times before?
Well, that just wasn’t the case. It was enough to just make the call because somehow, in my mind, other people — confident, savvy media type people — call PBS stations to pitch ideas. Not me. Nope, no way.
But then, as it has happened so many times in my life, a little voice in my head asked “why not you?” And the conversation began:
Me: “I’ve already told you, because I don’t know the first thing about television!”
The Voice: “Yeah, well once upon a time, you didn’t know how to write a column or a novel and now you’ve done both. Heck, you never knew how to sing until you were forty and now you actually sing in public (go figure!) and not just your car.”
Me: “Well, those things are different. I had to learn some new skills and then take a leap of faith.”
The Voice: “Point taken but you already have the skills for this meeting. You’ve been in a million meetings, you dinosaur. Don’t get so far ahead of yourself that you can’t even take the perfectly safe first step. Bottom line? You believe in this project wholeheartedly, you are committed to shining the light on experienced voices among us or you never would have made the call. Buck up and go share the goodness of those ten wonderful storytellers and the impact they had on the community. This is a story worth sharing!”
Me: “Oh, I just hate it when you’re right.”
The end result? It was a relaxed and very satisfying meeting with a gracious woman who seems genuinely enthused about this topic. Stay tuned.
Note to self: Turn down the volume on that chatter, take stock of reality, and go have fun!