08.21.09
True Reinvention
Journalists have been buzzing about the news that disgraced journalist Jayson Blair has risen from the ashes of plagiarism and fabrication to find a career as a life coach.
Some feel he doesn’t deserve to be allowed to work at anything that has any intrinsic value to people because he betrayed the public’s trust. Others just feel he doesn’t deserve to ever be happy.
For those who missed it, or have forgotten, Blair was forced out as a New York Times reporter in 2003 after an internal investigation revealed that he had made up quotes, pretended to be reporting from places he had not gone, made up details and plagiarized from the stories of others.
Perhaps the great irony is that one of the stories that finally led to his undoing involved his plagiarism and fabrications in the tale of Army Pvt. Jessica Lynch, who was rescued from an Iraqi hospital in 2003. The narrative of an attack on Lynch’s convoy, her injury, capture and hospitalizaton was embellished by the military and the Bush administration into a tale of heroism that didn’t quite happen the way the public initially was led to believe.
Shortly after The Times’ scandal erupted and Blair’s resignation, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. After some time in treatment and looking for a way to get his life in order, including writing a highly ridiculed book about his experiences at The Times, Blair earned his life coach certification and now works for a psychological practice in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Unlike a lot of people, however, news about Blair’s career as a life coach doesn’t upset me. In fact, in many ways it makes perfect sense. He knows exactly what it means to blow it all and have to figure out how to put life back together.
A lot of people don’t have anyone to walk them through that process when they experience something similar – or worse. What we need to understand is that even at our lowest moments, we have reason to keep living, keep trying, keep looking for the silver lining. Life goes on and we had better get on with ours.
The lies of his life are the truth of his life. He was a liar and a cheat and, eventually, he got caught. He could have spent the rest of his life in denial and pretending to be a victim or he could determine that he wasn’t destined to be a pariah for life and that he actually might be able to put that experience to some use that would not only be healthy for him but could help others.
Resurrecting himself is the ultimate lead-by-example message.
Some folks, including a number of journalists, want to stay angry with Blair. They want him to continue to be punished for what he did in the name of journalism. They want him to roast.
Well, he certainly won’t ever be a member of the journalistic fraternity again, which for those who hold dear the highest standards of journalism such ostracism would be punishment enough. In fact, Blair told The Washington Post just that.
“There is nothing I ever wanted to do other than be a journalist,” he told the newspaper, which pointed out that Blair said he still grieved for his career and his role in ruining it.
Most of us like tales of redemption – someone who overcomes poverty, drugs, prison, abuse to become solid citizens who contribute to their community. Some of us only want those happy endings, though, for people we have judged to be deserving. Many of us, too, want to find ways to do something useful that contributes to society and makes us feel good about ourselves.
Jayson Blair may have found just that.
I can’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether he “deserves” it. As a life and career coach, I assume we all deserve chances to find our purpose and passion in life and to pursue it. Blair can’t be a journalist, but he can become a better person by helping others to do the same for themselves.
If he can emerge from scandal with a stronger sense of self-worth, then maybe we ought to stop making excuses to hold ourselves back.
