In just over two months, I graduate and lose the job I've had for the last three and a half years working for a magazine. I'll miss writing, and I'll miss getting to go to really interesting places. I'll miss working with awesome people, and I'll miss editing and polishing and re-polishing articles. But I'll miss interviewing people the most. Interviewing has been the surprise gem of the career path I've chosen. It is an unusual setting that doesn't occur naturally all that often.
In an interview, you meet a stranger one on one. Your job as interviewer is to make the other person comfortable. I've found that the best way to do this is smile a lot, joke a bit, and sincerely listen and care about what the other person is saying. And then the magic happens: I get to ask any question I want about a topic that person is passionate about.
Steph, you get someone talking about their passions, and there is this light that comes into their eyes. It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I've seen it the eyes of an acoustic physicist explaining the thrill of hearing the blood pulse through your head while sitting in an anechoic chamber (a room that cancels out noise). I've seen it in the eyes of a historian describing the impact that pepper made on pre-Renaissance Italy. I've seen it in the eyes of a musician reliving the moment he heard his own lyrics sung verbatim by a packed concert venue.
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| Photo Credit: Hannah Miller |
Fortunately, these experiences aren't just reserved for journalists. They still happen, but usually more occasionally and usually not with strangers. It often takes a foundation of trusted friendship. Recently, I had two separate conversations with a couple of friends of mine. We talked about faith and doubt. We talked about fear and rejection and hurt. In both instances, these friends of mine were asking honest questions. They were airing deep feelings they usually keep close to themselves. They stood in places of uncertainty. They stood in places of weakness. They stood vulnerable.
As I listened to them and discussed these ideas, I saw a similar something in their eyes. It wasn't the thrill of their passions. It was their souls.
"There you are. I see you," I kept thinking.
See, we walk around in our state of responsbility. I need to go to work. I need to write my thesis. I need be super outgoing. But these conversations knocked me out of all of that. Here we are these huddled masses, cloaked in smiles and busyness and routine. We so easily become a conglomerate of beings to each other. Our beautiful souls are hidden away in happy meaningless conversations.
These interviews and these conversations with friends leave me feeling honored. For in them, I'm reminded of our shared humanity--that we struggle and we wonder and we fear. And while we may struggle and wonder and fear about different things, we're all doing it. What a beautiful community we're a part of!
And in the same moment, I also see divinity in the passionate or vulnerable expressions I witness in these people's eyes. Each person, a thinking individual, different from anybody else I've ever met. It thrills me to be surrounded by hundreds of distinct minds.
Forgive me for waxing sentimental. I've spent most of my waking hours solely interacting with my computer screen and a keyboard for the last several weeks. (Did I mention I finished writing my thesis?) Human beings are much more fascinating.
Cheers,
Amanda
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