Thursday, January 19, 2023

Answering the Call


Every so often we hear a voice guiding us. Sometimes we listen and sometimes we don’t. I like to think it is from God, but some would say it is a voice in your head.

 

I had several jobs in which I heard “the call” to leave, to do something else. I thought, “No, it’s too hard to find another job. I don’t like what I am doing but I can get by here.” The boss sensed my frustration, and I was finished.

 

When I managed the Associated Press news desk for morning newspapers in Washington, the chief of the congressional staff asked me to join him. “Nah, I was brought from San Francisco to do this.” I had more influence on the news report where I was, though I was suffering from burnout after four years.

 

Later, my boss saw that and sent me unwillingly to cover Congress. It was a shock, but I absolutely LOVED it. Mixing with all of these famous people, and interesting young staff. I should have responded to the call several years earlier. It led to a stint as Treasury correspondent, where I developed a specialty in business and economics.

 

I got better at listening. After a music theory teacher heard me play a little on the piano a few years ago, he insisted, “You have to join a jazz band!” So I found one with a paid instructor and played in it for two years. Once we performed at one of Washington’s top jazz clubs.

 

Then there was the friend who told me, “Pickett Craddock is a single woman, Mike. You ought to get to know her.” Glad I didn’t ignore that!

 

Later, on a foreign trip, I told a stranger on our tour bus that I wrote news before retirement but that I was mostly interested in music now.  She looked me in the eye and declared, “You have got to keep writing!”

 

So I just did!


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