Like a breath of fresh air

Lesson: Appreciate new beginnings, no matter how small.
I received the sweetest compliment today and it’s nearly 8 p.m. and I haven’t even left the house today. Amazing. I suppose this is the life of a freelance journalist.  In fact, I haven’t even changed my clothes OR brushed my hair, and I don’t intend to do either before bed.
 I did a phone interview this morning with a sweet woman whom I’ve never met before and didn’t even know of before the other day. She owns an art store in a town in West Virginia that sells hand crafted art. Now, there’s a “fine line” between art and crafts and apparently artists don’t like their work to be referred to as a craft. Who knew, but I will respect it either way.  Crafts are something kids do or items you would find for sale at a church bizarre, off the record.
My assignment was to do an “in-depth” preview story on the 4th annual arts festival this woman is hosting. When I called to set up the appointment to speak with her she awkwardly asked, “Will you be… um… asking me questions?” And when I answered yes, of course, I think that made her feel more at ease.  No one wants to feel like they have to prepare a monologue, that’s too much pressure.
So today at 11 a.m. I phoned her and she was a pleasure to talk with. Some people are such a bore with short answers, never want to expand on anything or are not interested. But from our conversation I could truly hear she was passionate in her work. When she first answered the phone she said, “Can I put you on hold for one second? I was just in the middle of my pottery, just let me dry my hands.” I thought how sweet, I was just watching television doing absolutely nothing before I realized it was time for our interview, ha. I love to see people love what they do. Creating beauty out of nothing, whether it be pieces of glass or fabric is truly a gift from God. 
I asked, what I consider to be, typical questions when I do a preview story. I ask about the history of the event, how the person became involved, what goes into planning, what is new, what should people expect, anything specifically should people bring when attending. Then, of course, as any good journalist would do, when I ask follow up questions as needed when something catches my interest.
At the end of our talk she said, “I’ve been doing this for a few years now and speak to newspapers and magazines every year for this event, and you were so great to talk to. You made this so easy for me.  I wasn’t uncomfortable and you helped the conversation flow easily for me. And you even asked great questions.” I was ecstatic inside as I thanked her for the compliment and explained to her that is my goal of an interview. I want to leave as friends. I want to learn more about the person, the event, the issue, the whatever by the time we’re through.   Her words to me, not knowing that is my personal goal, means I’ve done a good job. I am satisfied with that. Then she added, “You are going to make it.” Then I wanted to be best friends.
How often do we see or meet someone that rubs us a certain way, and we don’t take the breath to say it? The few sentences she shared with me hours ago have stuck with me so much throughout the day that I had to come here to write about it. That’s special.
Then she said she hoped to meet me one day and I said the same thing back to her. I don’t think she has any idea how wonderful her words were to me today, but I tried to get that through to her by thanking her a few times for everything. It’s especially pleasing when people take the time to talk to me. It makes my assignment go by much easier, as you can only imagine. No interview = no story.

After the story runs in the paper, I’m going to her art store to meet her. Well, that’s if the story ever makes it in the paper because I haven’t even started writing it yet, eek!