There's that moment of satisfaction when you hit that 'publish' button. That dirt is off your shoulder, as Jay-Z would say. The chip has been lifted. Your name, your headline, your article is posted or printed or distributed, pictures and videos and clips and all.
The pleasure is great. It is also fleeting. There are deadlines (not, as we saw earlier dealines) for other projects. Forms to be filled, things demanding attention.
I've learned this summer that that is the way of journalism. There are millions of things that need to be done, and very little time to savor the success. I've found a similar sensation with creative work. Once the work is done, the satisfaction is gone.
I actually think, though, that this is a good thing. It's not about laurel-resting and self-satisfaction. The benefit of the work is the work itself. If we enjoy doing the work, the process, we don't nee the time to savor the product. The process is its own reward.
Weird thinking, right? But it works.
Case in point: I spent hours agonizing a piece that I'm writing while I'm here, a piece unrelated to the institute. I finished it yesterday, sent it off to my editor, and have since forgotten about it. I'm not even sure I'm "proud" per se of it anymore. Now, I see the Cronkite News Service website come up, and I'm more interested in the story on Indian Reservations and local politics than in my own work.
Remember: the process is the reward.
Adviser out,
David Andrew Tow
Terra Linda High School
San Rafael, Calif.
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