“The bits of wisdom and knowledge that I cherish the most come during an epiphany.”
I’ve always found beginnings to be really easy, but that’s probably because I had so much practice at them. Middles and ends not so much. So here goes nothing. As I prepared to write this blog post, I received the distinct impression that I was to share what my goal is as a writer. I feel that so many writers today are considered mere entertainers. While I endeavor to be an entertainer, I also desire to be so much more than that. I want to #lightTheWorld with my writing. I want to share with others the principles of my craft as well as down to earth truths that will help them become their best self. How do you do this? I’m not really sure. It’s really easy to be blunt with people and tell them how it is, but I don’t know if this is always the most effective way to help people. No, I’ve found that the bits of wisdom and knowledge that I cherish the most come during an epiphany. The moment where after much thought—and often prayer—the doctrine or principle just makes sense. These are the best moments, because when we are told truth we rarely believe it because we haven’t experienced it. When we experience it after we have diligently sought it out, it sticks with us. Sometimes I think we often write off some TV Show, movies, or books as having little value because to the outside viewer, at their most basic level, these works simply exist to entertain us. While this may be true of some literary works. It is certainly not true of all literature.
Take for example this quote from the hit NBC TV Comedy, “The Office,”
“Fear plays an interesting role in our lives.How dare we let it motivate us; how dare we let it into our decision making, into our livelihood. It’s funny isn’t it… we take a day a year to dress up in costume and celebrate fear.”
Robert California/James Spader
I frequently rewatch The Office. And I have often wondered why. Why do I watch this show over and over again? The comedic effect certainly plays a big role. Sometimes I just want a good laugh to cheer me up and this television show has never let me down. But we can’t just take the first easy answer that comes to us.
This television series in a way reflects my own current circumstances. Like Jim Halpert, played by John Krasinski, I feel trapped in a dead end job. And in this case, this particular quote about fear really rang true. On the surface level we have a comedy that entertains, but underneath the surface we can find a wealth of truths and principles that the writers and actors of The Office wanted us to see. Sometimes it’s so subtle that if we are not paying attention we will miss it. I have come to learn that any good piece of entertainment or literature has something to teach below the surface. We might not always agree with the message, but the fact that the message exists means something.
My hope is that you’ll take the chance to dig a little deeper. This is a great test to find out if the entertainment you are consuming each day is beneficial or just filler. I would encourage you to look beneath the surface and if you like what you find then keep on digging! If you don’t, well perhaps you should move on to other material that is worth your time. And once you have that knowledge #LightTheWorld with it and help others discover it for themselves.
Sources: Quote by Robert California (James Spader) pulled from, “The Office, Season 8, Episode 5: Spooked.”Photo Credit: Bridget Kwakye Evensen#Blog
