It All Changed

Listen to "It All Changed" on Spreaker. This one's a hard one. Yet it resembles a wide open door that screams, "This is what I'm talking about!" I saw the new Clint Eastwood movie Richard Jewell. The one that puts a lot of attention on the Summer Olympic's bombing in Atlanta. July 26 1996. I was in there three days before the event. A radio station promotion. Running around gathering content. It's what radio people do. It's not always about play. It's about taking the experience and putting into words so listeners can be taken to that place. Maybe that's why this movie triggered me. Three days before the bomb went off we were taking in the sights and sounds. How often does the average person go to the Olympics? If you frequent these podcasts then you're already familiar with how I strongly do all I can to convince you to write daily. I know it's a pain. I've been doing it for 25 years! I bet I've had more days complaining about writing then I have enjoying the moment. So what does this have to do with Atlanta? July 1996. Twenty three years ago. I've written for twenty five. All of my journals are held tightly in protective containers. 5:23 this morning I was leaping into those boxes knowing exactly where July 27, 1996 was. I didn't know of the bombing until the next morning. So easily we can talk about our actions and reactions to this tragic event and everything that followed but firmly I say that's not right. Unless you wrote it down all you hold is a story that will be bent and twisted into a shape of how you see it today not as it was happening. I go back to that moment. It's in the daily writing. Not only did the movie trigger me but the writing totally took over in ways that instantly brought forward the way it was. How we heal as a nation from such unending thunder? Do we heal or learn to set it aside. Then when Clint Eastwood releases a movie about it the sudden jolt of reality consumes every space in your mind body and soul. Clint is currently under attack for this movie because critics don't know what his truer message is. They say he's exposing an area of American history where fake news was believed more than fact. In the film Richard's lawyer talks about how the Jewell family had come under attack by the two biggest super powers in the world. The U.S. Government and the media. July 27 1006. It all changed. Putting my hands on the pages written upon on that day 23 years ago showcases nothing more than a daily writer trying to hold onto the moments three days before the bomb at the Summer Olympics. I read those pages too. Share your story or someone will write it for you.