“If you can’t put words to the experiences in your life, you don’t know what’s going on in your life. Things are happening to you. If you can’t name them, you’re not in control of your life.” These are the words of Don Waisanen, a second year doctoral fellow at USC. He is young, with an impressive level of experience in journalism, broadcasting, and radio.
In my first semester at USC, Don taught the Discussion section of Comm 201. His words have come to direct every area of my life. No matter what the situation, when I return to this rough definition of communication, I can grasp the limitless possibilities of my communication’s results. I don’t want things to happen to me. I want to make things happen.
The words I write can and should create meaning out of everyday events. When I practice defining my own experiences, I grow, and I change. I become a better writer. Sometimes I have to dig deep to find out what the truth is, but it's there. It's there for anyone who's passionate about writing, I believe... always lurking behind a phrase or buried in a gut.
So much of what I read and see happening in the world is tainted by a media frame, political or otherwise -- someone's agenda to get me to buy a product or to worship Paris Hilton's empty glory. I've come to understand that Don's words are not just about me, but about the importance of individual perspectives in a society soaked in media blood. Blogging is one of the few areas in this new communication order that allows anyone in society to publish words conveying what they see. Although the quality of writings fluctuate, they assist in maintaining a balance of interests, which the media often fails to do.
Before Don's class, I often felt bombarded by media images and focused on writing about my own life. That was my escape. Now, I also practice analyzing messages formed by the media, beginning with the question, "Why?" It has become a great tool for uncovering truth. I'd like to think that this is exactly what he meant.
1 comment:
I like your post for two reasons. One, I think it's great when one person so heavily impact another person as Don has you. It's really cool to see humans helping humans. Second, I think you make a very valid point that through text, people can identify what they see, and that these things are the closest to the truth. I also feel that so much of what goes on in the world today is tainted by media; news, pictures, celebrities, movies and so on. The written word is the original form of art, and in a way the most true form. Writing comes from the soul, and can help in so many ways. Everything looks better, or atleast easier to clearly see when it's down on paper. If it's creative writing, writing down why you hate this or that, or whether you are determing to take a trip or not, all these things come in the vast form of writing.
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