What do you believe in?
I believe in empowering women, inherent goodness, gut feelings, stories, & voices. I believe in respect & dignity. I believe in sunshine. I believe in belly laughs. I believe in desserts. I believe in friendship & family. I believe in old roads & culture. I believe in xoxo's, music, deep breaths, smiles, & happy lists. I believe in peace & One World ... I believe in a lot of things, but how do you pick just one?
My reflections on personal beliefs have been jumpstarted by the book I just finished, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women edited by Jay Allsion and Dan Gediman.
The This I Believe project was started in the 1950's over a lunch date between Ward Wheelock, William S. Paley (founder and CEO of CBS), Donald Thornburgh, and Edward R. Murrow (@ the time, Murrow was the country's number one broadcaster). These media big-wigs felt that materialism was overtaking the spirituality of the United States. & came up with the idea that daily, they would broadcast a 5 minute radio program of well-known individuals reading short essays on what they believe. 350-500 words on what philosophies guide one's day-to-day actions; "not what could be learned in a moment, but a lifetime".
This I Believe soon became a national (and later- international) phenomenon; it was called a "radio staple", and submissions were soon welcome from 'everyday people'. In 1952 select stories were printed in novel form, and two more novels have been printed since (I also just found a vinyl version at a used book sale - score!). The project officially left the radio in 1955 due to budget cuts, but has lived on since. Thousands of eassys still get submitted today to the This I Believe Website.
I am in complete awe of this project. The small book took me more than a month to read simply because I felt that each essay needed to be savored (my very, very, very favorite was Everything Potent is Dangerous by Wallace Stegner). I've been in the process of writing my own essay, and think you should too. The guidelines (as taken from here) are simple: tell a story, be brief, name your belief, be positive, and be personal.
Something to do today: Think: WHAT DO I BELIEVE? & start writing your own This I Believe essay.
For more history, stories, merchandise, and guidelines to writing your own This I Believe essay, click here.
1 comment:
Wow, this is a very interesting project. "Everything Potent is Dangerous" is great (and of course it's pretty cool that he was born in IOWA :-)). Great find, Jeanna!
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