Once you've got what you're searching for, it feels surreal. You think any moment now you're going to wake up and realize you never had it because in the moment you feel a perpetual bliss that can't possibly be real. Well, I haven't yet woken up from the dream of working at CNN Headquarters in New York city. Just typing that gives me goosebumps.
Week Five in the city was my first real week at CNN. I didn't feel new there though. I felt like I was born to work here. The people, the atmosphere, the press meetings, the ideas, everything floating around as if I were on cloud nine and they were rotating around me :) Ok, super cheesy I know but I still don't believe that I am a small part of the news-making process. Within a week of being here I'm learning how to responsibly and creatively pitch a piece. I've learned how production is completed, how departments work, how to handle a breaking news situation, graphic editing and video production. With the battles rising in Afghanistan and Bill Clinton's sudden change of pace, Iran's controversial buildup of nuclear weapons and the beginnings of the winter olympics in Vancouver, I felt as if every event was unfolding in front of my very own eyes.
Now I understand the virtue of "Bearing Witness." In Islam when one bears witness to the oneness of Allah or the prophetic nature of Muhammad, we recite Ashadu meaning I bear witness. In journalism, when a reporter objectively tells a story about what she witnessed right before her very eyes, it is also a type of devotion. It is a devotion to truth. A devotion to get the word out to the very people who need to know what's happening. It is a service to mankind, allowing them to evaluate for themselves what the observation of the reporter meant. Faith and world thus, for me, intertwine... even at work :)
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