I have never been someone in tune with inspirational aspirations. I get it, they provide a service for those who believe and I’m not here to rain on your parade, yuck your yum or end your slay moment — depending on what generation you fall into.
Maybe I’m just filling nicely into my aging, cisgender, white male shoes of being a curmudgeon, I say in jest. Although the best way to get a spiritual eyeroll from me is to show me your dream board. Yes, it’s nice to dream but is a picture of a Rolls Royce cut out of a magazine and put on a $2 piece of poster board going to get me into one?
I once had a staff member write a check for one million dollars to himself and put it on a dream board. “One day I will cash that,” he said. Insert eyeroll emoji. “Not working here,” I thought. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted him to. If a sales rep could cash a million dollar check then Watermark Out News would be doing just fine.
Other mental roadblocks for me include sayings like: “if you put good into the world you will get good back,” “everything happens for a reason” and “you are exactly where you need to be.” The latter is a favorite of my 12-step program.
My internal translator might say “if you put good in the world you will feel better about yourself and you will see the positive things in life,” “everything happens and we like to put meaning behind it” and “you are exactly where you are.”
I must admit I am still walking the path of alcoholism’s spiritual journey, so I’m curious how ridiculous I will think I sound a year from now.
One thing sobriety has brought out in me is honesty and transparency. Although most of this article has been a bit of a sarcastic rant with the intent of being humorous, I must admit I have been in a bit of a dark place lately.
2025 has hit a lot of people really hard for many different reasons, and it is proving to be a tough one for small independent newspapers, especially those that serve a niche market. National advertising is a desert, local advertising is sparce because of economic concerns, trust in news sources is eroding and artificial intelligence is basically a digital pirate.
Take me, someone who feels their entire identity is wrapped up in their work, mix in a little doomsday anxiety and you have a formula for disaster.
However, I have hit a turning point. One week ago this very day I went to a delightful fundraiser for Hope Community Center at the eclectically gorgeous home of Sally Hogshead. I was reminded of a few things: 1) Anna V. Eskamani is fabulous and I look forward to hearing her voice on the MCO tram when she is elected mayor of Orlando, 2) I can listen to Carlos Guillermo Smith and Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet speak for hours and 3) Hope is powerful and beautiful.
We were introduced to some youth who faced great adversity, but who persevered with a little help from others and a lot of hope. It was a beautiful thing to witness.
The following day I set out to visit Madison, Wisconsin for the annual AAN Publisher’s conference. One might think it was primed for a mass journalistic pity party but it was the exact opposite:
I was surrounded by industry leaders, some new to the business, some representing papers more than 100 years old and even some running outlets their parents started when they were kids. That was cool to see.
There were incredible ideas shared on sustainability and ways to better community outreach. One thing stood out, though.
It was something everyone had in common: we all love our communities and want to make them better places. We all want to hold accountable those that will do us harm and celebrate those that uplift us. We want our communities to thrive and it is the hope that they will thrive that keeps us in business.
Our strongest asset is you, our audience. You give me hope that we will make it through the darkest times and I hope we do the same for you. Watermark Out News is simply a collection of your stories, curated by a team of people who care deeply about you.
I won’t ask you to go out and get a foam board and glitter and start manifesting, but I will ask you to hold on to hope because hope is still here.
Stay visible, stay strong and support each other.
