As a writer you cannot always impress everybody. And that rough edge that great writers tend to have usually becomes rounded and very smooth with time once you decide to write in a way that makes everyone happy. Andy Rooney offended people with some of his commentary, but that's what makes a truthful writer truly great. If he had censored his words, he would have been censoring his heart. And if truth comes from the conscience that is embedded in our hearts, then he would have never been the great writer who had won the hearts of millions.
Many years ago, the head of Aiglon College Alumni, who is a dear friend of mine, once told me, "Suzy, what did you do? You were skyrocketing with your bold and blunt commentary, but then you started getting soft just to avoid hurting or offending anyone, and that's when you lost your original fan base and very unique, razor-sharp edge."
He was right. Since I was writing so much about politics and world affairs, I realized my readers were growing and people were tuning in daily just to read my latest commentary. So I started becoming more conscious about what I published online. I tried hard to curb social sensitivities, to deliver my ideas in a way to make both parties happy. All races and religions happy. Both men and women, young and old -- HAPPY. Yet over time, I found myself incredibly unhappy with my writing, so one day, I just stopped waving my pen like a wand because I no longer felt that magical passion for writing anymore. Yet there is more. The more I wrote, the smaller I felt. So even though I appeared to be growing larger and larger to everyone else, deep inside I felt so tiny.
Today, I find myself only writing about issues that directly impact my small world. Yet tomorrow, I intend to write again about the world at large, once I feel larger again, even though I still feel so incredibly small. No writer maintains the same passion for writing from start to finish. No writer feels large from beginning to end. Just like the ocean, we have our tears and tides, our fears and pride. We react differently to different shadings of light, like the cockroach and beetle, the moth and butterfly, or the sun and waning of the moon; for we are only human. Yet unlike most humans, the social scientist is a very delicate breed. They feel more and see more.
The truth is, anybody can be a writer, but there are not many real thinkers. A real writer is also an independent thinker who explores the depths of the soul and the world as a whole. I will always feel smaller and smaller the more doors I open to uncover the truth. In fact, in the months and years of my sudden absence, I have been shrinking the more I grow.
Respectfully,
Suzy Kassem
A writer's job is to tell the truth. -- Andy Rooney
