Falling into — the right — place

Life has its moments of clarity when, if only for a split second, it seems you've discovered the answer to a universal question. Suddenly, something feels more right than you've ever known.

Whether or not there is such a thing as fate, it does seem from time to time that we are all destined for certain courses; particular abilities come naturally, or a string of events falls together so fluidly that it just feels like destiny must have played a part.

And when one of those moments comes along, you feel the absoluteness of the situation as if to confirm: Yes! This is it! This is what I've been waiting for!

I've had that feeling often lately in my new job as the editor of the Columbia Basin Herald.

It just feels right — being back in the newsroom where I got my start, working with an outstanding group of reporters who are passionate about what they do, feeling the pressure of deadline to get the presses rolling on time, taking pictures and writing stories about the community I love, talking with sources and readers and relishing every minute of it. I've enjoyed catching up with people I've missed while I've been away working at other newspapers, seeing those familiar smiles and finding out what's changed and what's stayed the same.

I feel like I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, back in my hometown and back at the Herald.

I never knew I was destined for this, though perhaps I should have speculated after having put out my first newspaper at age 10 with my best friend Randi Rich. We called it The Weekly Gossip, and soon after we put the product into circulation at our elementary school we were in the principal's office. It was my first lesson in the ethics of journalism; we were reprimanded for implying a certain girl might have a crush on a certain boy in our grade. The fear of being in the principal's office and in serious trouble for the first time in my young life squashed my dreams of being Lois Lane for a while.

In fact, I wasn't much interested again until I got my first job out of college with the Herald as a photographer. It sounded like fun, but soon became so much more than that as I fell in love with being behind the camera. Watching the world through my lens and catching the perfect moment gave me such a feeling of satisfaction and, more importantly, that overall sense of yes-this-is-it that I decided to make a career out of journalism. I took every opportunity I could to learn everything about newspapers, writing, photography, page design and editing, and every new element I worked at mastering just kept convincing me I was following the right path.

This is not an easy job. There a lot of stress, a lot of hours spent working and a lot of expectations to live up to (especially from our readers, thankfully, who feel very strongly about their local paper which keeps me motivated more than any other outside factor). But those moments of knowing, with every part of my heart and soul, that I'm where I'm supposed to be make it all worthwhile.