Dear Jessica Brennan,
In the last little while we have read in the news about lots of things that have people raving. The selfie stick, edible food wrappers and the pee-operated above-urinal advertising scheme are just a few. We see headlines depicting incredible horrors mixed with unbelievable fluff. “Boston Terror Plot” scares me. “Klum Flaunts Boy Toy” makes me wonder who cares. The lure of new inventions like 3D printers for example, also bring with them the fear of what they will print. Even the good news always seems to involve, well, bad news. “Celebrity Visits Dying Child”. “Community Remembers Fallen Soldier”. I know that to sell papers, creating tension is required, and tension we have.
Information, new gadgets and apps, sensationalized stories, real life tragedy all flood over us every single day. My brain feels like it will pop half the time with all the information it is trying to sort into piles of “useful”, “not useful”, “delete”, “keep”, “maybe true”, “not even close to being true” and “what?!”, and yet there are many stories we forget to report.
This long weekend, I would like to propose that we look at some true unheard stories from today that are nothing short of fantastic. Here are the headlines:
“Man goes fishing”
A man went fishing.
“Child is born”
A woman had a baby.
“Lost cat is found”
It was in a garage. Then it went back in the house and scratched the sofa, just like it did before it was lost.
“Woman talks to man on phone. Toad hops by.”
I’m not kidding. This happened. A real toad, just hopping for the sake of hopping.
“Husband Barbecues Steak”
It was good and perfect and medium rare.
Some of my other favourites are:
“House doesn’t burn down”. “Wife doesn’t cheat”. “Kids do their homework”. “Lawn gets mowed”. “Family eats dinner at the kitchen table”.
Now before you think I’m kidding, because I often am, let’s look at this a little closer. Have you ever been fishing on a day that’s 23 degrees and sunny? I can assure you that standing in the silent clamor that is nature and smelling the flowers, listening to the river and birds, and not feeling the need to do anything but be there in that moment, is newsworthy.
Have you ever held a newborn child? Can this actually ever be old news? That magic of a baby that’s just one breath into this reality, and the wonder that comes here with it must surely outweigh whatever the Kardashians are doing. Brand new babies are newsworthy.
Did you ever lose your pet? Enough said. That’s a pain that is far deeper than not being able to watch advertising while you pee. Finding a lost pet safe and well? Newsworthy.
Has a toad ever snuck up on you? Have you eaten a perfect steak? Has an old friend called? Have you ever heard a six year old tell you all about their day? Have you tripped but not fallen and done the silly walk to make it look like you meant to do it? 100% Newsworthy.
Love Mum xo