Journal

    Week 5:  “This I Believe”
    The objective of this week’s journal is to become more self-aware of your values and how they impact your daily behaviors.  The idea comes from National Public Radio when they revived Edward R. Murrow’s idea from the 1950s.  Though the original idea involved making an audio recording of the essay, you will post a written essay only.
    The original This I Believe instructions from Edward R. Murrow are the following: 
    This I Believe invites you to make a very great contribution: nothing less than a statement of your personal beliefs, of the values which rule your thought and action.  Your essay should be… written in a style as you yourself speak, and total no more than 500 words.
    We know this is a tough job.  What we want is so intimate that no one can write it for you.  You must write it yourself, in the language most natural to you.  We ask you to write in your own words….  You may even find that it takes a request like this for you to reveal some of your own beliefs to yourself.  If you set them down they may become of untold meaning to others.
    We would like you to tell not only what you believe, but how you reached your beliefs, and if they have grown, what made them grow.  This necessarily must be highly personal.  That is what we anticipate and want.
    It may help you in formulating your credo if we tell you also what we do not want.  We do not want a sermon, religious or lay; we do not want editorializing or sectarianism or “finger-pointing.”  We do not even want your views on the American way of life, or democracy or free enterprise.  These are important but for another occasion.  We want to know what you live by.  And we want it in terms of “I,” not the editorial “We.”
    Although this program is designed to express beliefs, it is not a religious program and is not concerned with any religious form whatever.  Most of our guests express belief in a Supreme Being, and set forth the importance to them of that belief.  However, that is your decision, since it is your belief which we solicit.
    But we do ask you to confine yourself to affirmatives:  This means refraining from saying what you do not believe.  Your beliefs may well have grown in clarity to you by a process of elimination and rejection, but for our part, we must avoid negative statements lest we become a medium for the criticism of beliefs, which is the very opposite of our purpose.
    We are sure the statement we ask from you can have wide and lasting influence.  Never has the need for personal philosophies of this kind been so urgent.  Your belief, simply and sincerely spoken, is sure to stimulate and help those who hear it.
    Instructions
    Since we are following the guidelines set forth by This I Believe, we offer their suggestions below for writing and preparing your essay (http://thisibelieve.org/guidelines/):
    Tell a story:  Be specific.  Take your belief out of the ether and ground it in the events of your life.  Consider moments when this belief was formed or tested or changed.  Think of your own experience, work, and family, and tell of the things you know that no one else does.  Your story need not be heart-warming or gut-wrenching—it can even be funny—but it should be real.  Make sure your story ties to the essence of your daily life philosophy and the shaping of your beliefs.
    Be brief:  Your statement should be between 350 and 500 words.
    Name your belief:  If you can’t name it in a sentence or two, your essay might not be about belief.  Also, rather than writing a list, focus on one core belief.
    Be positive:  Please avoid preaching or editorializing.  Tell us what you do believe, not what you don’t believe.  Avoid speaking in the editorial “we.” Make your essay about you; speak in the first person.
    Be personal:  Write in your own voice, as if you were speaking out loud.

     

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