If you’re like me, you might be trying to find the relevance in what we do without seeming trivial. At least sixty-eight hundred people are already dead, fifty of them in my own small community.
In the face of those statistics, it is so hard to think about commercials. In light of what is going on in the world, commercials seem quite close to the end of the list of what is important. The nature of our business is to appear upbeat, jovial, even when we are not. Should we dare offer a peek at how we might actually feel during bad times, that could be bad for business. If we are not upbeat while we go about our daily business of making sales calls, talking to clients, and speaking with our competitors, then how should we be?
After the enormity of the tragedy that we have all suffered, it is just not easy to try to look away, to "put on a happy face"—not for me, and not for most. No matter how close any one of us may have been to "ground zero," this catastrophic event happened to us all. What has followed the Sept. 11 explosion—massive job layoffs, declining stock market, falling ad revenues—only makes an already overwhelming situation even more so. "Normalcy" certainly has changed—yet we need to find our way back.
Any one of us who has suffered a long-term illness or family tragedy knows the process; we know the questions. The long-suffered question during these times is often, "How are you able to keep on going?" The answer to this is, "The alternative is not a very good option." We the survivors are the fortunate ones. This is our blessing. I don’t know about everyone, but I can live with that. I can get up in the morning, go to the office and revel in the privilege of being able to carry on, to be able to do something that I love doing. This fortunate feeling does not take away from the pain and sadness I feel for those less fortunate; it merely gives me the energy and direction to move on from here.
My wish is that we learn something from this tragedy. Hopefully, we have gained a greater understanding of ourselves and what is important. Trying to find the good in the overwhelming sea of bad is not easy. If there is anything to be gained here, I believe it would be to not put off things for "some other day." This is the day: Use it, enjoy it, revel in it. And, lastly, it is my hope that we have come to know, if we did not already know it, that our work is part of our life—not our life—and that we are lucky to be able to continue doing it.
