Good speech

Clouded judgment?

I walked into the conference room of Esquire Magazine Friday pondering a couple questions:

Do you feel your magazine objectifies women?
Does it reinforce demeaning attitudes in men or just serve as a sexual outlet?

I didn't ask my questions though. I was distracted by the speech web director Eric Gillin gave.

A couple things stuck out:

• Stop making excuses.

He gave this analogy of a band without a drummer. A member of the band, perhaps the leader, keeps saying, "Oh, we're going to perform as soon as we get a drummer!"

What would Gillin say to this? Teach yourself how to drum! And do it right now!

We can't keep making excuses for the things we do not know how to do. We have so many resources around us and all we have to do is tap into them.

• We should collaborate with our peers, instead of competing with them.

I feel this disconnect with my peers quite often. Often we are insecure and jealous about someone else's accomplishments. We feel we need to be better than the person next to us and in feeling inadequate we might act like we are superior than others.

Gillin said there is an upside to this hate or jealousy:

Get that person in the newsroom that completely hates your guts to edit your work. Chances are, that will be the most honest editing you're ever going to get!

On a serious note, I know we would be so much more successful if we let our insecurities go and worked to support and build each other up. After all, we might need each other one day when looking for jobs or just needing some kind of help.

Alright, I'm done being idealistic for the day.

I'm very appreciative of the scenery change I experienced last week in New York. It was very refreshing to see the different types of media that exist. I have been given a new lens through which to see the world.

The airplane ride home captured it all. Sitting in the window seat, of course, I don't ever want to forget what I saw in the sky. It was like all I had to do was step outside and walk on top of the those fluffy, milk-white clouds.

The symbolism was thick: I can do anything, go as high as I want.

Next on my list:

Give a good speech.