The New Frontier

Early this afternoon, in the middle of my weekly therapy session, I got the alert that a new email arrived.

But this was not your normal email.

This was an email from the editor of businessinsider.com that my blog had just been posted on his website.

I had been waiting for about two weeks for this email.

Needless to say, the tone of the therapy session changed immediately.

Normally, I turn my off ringer during the 60-minute soul searching, but for some reason, today I did not.

I guess I know the reason now.

When I reached out to businessinsider.com, in addition to Oprah & Rosie, the New York Times & the Wall Street Journal (among others), I really didn’t expect any response.

After all, no response is what I have been getting plenty of during my long run as a member of the unemployed.

But unlike the others, I did get a response from the Henry, the editor.

He said that my blog was “interesting and often moving”.

Sounds like a compliment to me.

He also said he would publish my blog on his site -- a site that gets like two million hits per month.

The only person with more hits in a month than that is Snoop Dogg.

The opportunity to get published was something that I was VERY excited about. It was not as much about me as it was about my story.

I have spent the first 42 years of my life behind the scenes, literally.

For the last 25 years, I worked as a local, regional and national TV Producer, making the pretty people look pretty.

I was never looking for the spotlight and I am still not.

In fact, I have been writing this blog anonymously, under a nickname, “Sir Bacon”, given to me by six-year old daughter.

(P.S., I’m not sure what it means or where it came from.)

But today, my little blog about “My Journey Through Unemployment” took on a whole new level.

Within a couple of hours of being published, there were more than 10,000 hits.

To quote Seinfeld’s ex, Elaine Benes, “I am speechless. I am without speech.”

TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE took at least one second out of their life to read about my journey through unemployment.

I have always felt that my story was one that many people would connect with, but I never expected this.

I have spent more than a day in my life being cynical, so I was not surprised to read so many negative comments about my blog/my situation.

But as they say in the TV business, I don’t care if they like us or hate us as long as they watch us.

When I started writing my blog, I was doing it for me.

And I still am.

But the more I write, the more I realize that I am doing it for you too.

Well, maybe not literally you, but none of us have escaped this miserable recession. We all know somebody who has lost their job.

The opportunity to tell my story was therapeutic, for me, whether I was the only person to read it or not, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that it could be therapeutic for others as well.

Thank you to Henry for giving me the platform.

Thank you to you for traveling on my journey.