By
Lorraine Glowczak
Last
Friday before working at my job in Portland, I went for a walk on one of my
favorite nature trails. My hike in nature did not occur as I had imagined.
Deep
in thought, I wasn’t paying attention as I was walking down a steep and narrow
path. As my mind was elsewhere and not on the path ahead of me, I tripped. Instead
of turning on the sharp curve on the downhill trail, I kept walking forward
where no path existed – only an abrupt slope. I tumbled approximately twenty
feet down the side of the hill. My yoga skirt slid above my head, exposing
myself to anyone who was also enjoying the day in nature. I was embarrassed and
mortified, walking away with bruises and scratches.
But
that wasn’t the only fall I took last week.
When
you are an editor/writer for a small-town newspaper, it is very wise to stay
present with a focused mind. If you make one tiny misstep – any errors that are
not spotted and corrected are exposed to the world to see. Yes. That happened
in last week’s edition.
For
the experienced readers among us as well as the grammarians in our lives, my
error was cringeworthy and stones were thrown with accuracy. Some of the
comments received were correct and deserving. As a result, I walked away from
last week’s publication embarrassed, mortified and bruised. Making a mistake in
public is a very challenging life experience, to say the least. Much like my
yoga skirt sliding up my body and over my head, the exposure is humiliating - not
only for me, but for the whole Windham Eagle newspaper team.
What
lessons did I learn from this fall?
There are people who will support you through your mistakes.
What helped
me the most through this public embarrassment were the words of encouragement I
also received. Comments such as “We are all human and we all make mistakes”,
were helpful as I picked myself up. Some people even helped me laugh at myself.
Just before teaching my class last Thursday, employees of Windham/Raymond Adult
Education offered humor and suggestions to turn the mistake around.
The
newspaper team, even though my error reflected negatively upon them, continue to
love me anyway.
Your mistakes make you more compassionate.
Although I’ve always been shy about throwing stones, I am
more aware of how the power of words can play a role in an individual’s life.
You discover more about yourself.
The greatest lesson learned is that I may have chosen my
career wisely, despite my errors. As I was leaving the Windham/Raymond Adult
Education office to teach my class, Director Tom Nash said to me regarding the
misspelling of the word Sergeant was, “Lorraine. No one died.”
Relief flooded over me. Of the many mistakes I have made
in life, I will thank the heavens above that I have chosen the career path of
writer and editor….and not a surgeon.
My apologies to Sergeant Raymond Williams, our readers
and the whole Windham Eagle news team as well as to those hikers who may have
seen more of me than they bargained for.
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