Sharing the News and Wisdom

“Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” -  Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

Now, this may sound like pseudoscience, but it appears that when we share information, the universe of that information suddenly becomes larger not only for others but for ourselves as well. It's certainly true with secrets. Most of us find that out the hard way. It takes us longer to learn that telling everything else we know doesn't decrease our wealth, knowledge, spirituality or sense of self, it expands it.

Sometimes I despair, though, when I see how much of today's social media, "news" and conversation is tied up with sharing information that harms or degrades others in some way. Topless pictures of royalty, tell-all books, shocking stories about love affairs, and lies about political candidates of both major parties often dominate out consciousness. To what end?

But news that helps others, makes them smile, gives them ideas for their hobbies and careers, and brings transformational moments, now that is what I'd like to see a few more headlines and Tweets about. Telling what's good seems to bring us even more good to tell. It's infinite wealth.

Today's Writing Links

• News: Banned Books Week Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary - “The following year [1982] a coalition of organizations concerned with the freedoms of speech and of the press declared a Banned Books Week. Now ASJA's First Amendment Committee is proud to support the thirtieth anniversary of Banned Books Week.” American Society of Authors and Journalists 
• Feature: Does Social Media Sell Books? by Meghan Ward - “The $64,000 question when it comes to social media is: Does it sell books? Many authors have written blog posts attempting to answer this question, and the consensus seems to be that yes, done right, social media does sell books, but in modest quantities.” Writerland 
• Contest: William Van Dyke Short Story Prize at Ruminate Magazine, entry fee $15, prize $1000, 5500 words or less, deadline Oct 26, 2012 
• Satire: Robin Redbreast Banned from Alton Butts Elementary in Time for Banned Books Week, by Jock Stewart – “The Albino County Board of Education announced here today that Robin Redbreast has been banned from the Alton Butts Elementary School library prior to the Banned Books Week deadline of September 30.” Morning Satirical News