Conscious Choice: Goodbye as CC Editor ... But I’m Ruined for Good

July 2004 | Editor’s Note

Goodbye as CC Editor ... But I’m Ruined for Good

I’m at that age where my maturing wrinkles are speaking to me. Some of them say a well-placed nip-and-tuck or a little Botox (it’s natural, you know!) wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Others (usually my laugh lines) scold me for thinking such thoughts and remind me that I’m just starting to grow into my face. This quandary pretty much sums up my life — and it’s fundamentally due to being editor of this magazine.

Sometimes I don’t know whether I’m bragging or complaining about that. As I leave my post of nearly two years at Conscious Choice, there are many things I could be more “conscious” about. A short list includes: I still chemically color my hair (toxic to the environment), eat white sugar (toxic to me) and wear leather (bad for the animals). Use my wasteful gas-burning (fossil fuel) fireplace with abandon during the winter and often don’t recycle things that could be recycled.

I could go on. But perhaps the most helpful wisdom I’ve acquired during my tenure as CC editor is to be gentle with myself — and with others ... to be personally less judgmental and more accepting. And, believe me, in the journalism biz, you cut your teeth on making judgments and publishing transgressions.

However, I believe that we pursue a more compassionate journalism here at Conscious Choice. Make no mistake, we’re tough and do ask the hard questions. All of us at Dragonfly Media, Conscious Choice’s parent organization, take our media watchdog role seriously. But as a reporter who was in mainstream media for more than 15 years, I cherish the fundamental difference in how we approach our brand of journalism. Our goal is to empower individuals to change the world. We focus on defending democracy, human rights, economic justice and the spirit’s extraordinary power to heal. As Dragonfly’s mission reads, we provide a variety of venues for those “working to create more spiritual, sustainable and equitable communities.”

To be able to play a part in shaping the content of this magazine to meet those ends has been a gift both personally and professionally. For a journalist, it’s values-aligned work at its best. After all, how can one not be fundamentally changed when steeped in the stories that further the causes we hold so dear? With each issue of this magazine, I become clearer about the small and not-so-small things that I personally can do to make a difference, whether its shopping for union or Fair Trade products, eating “clean” food, reusing my paper grocery bags or giving up fur. As a result of this seminal experience as Conscious Choice editor, I believe that for the rest of my years, I will be tweaking my lifestyle in order to make meaningful differences. But the differences will come only because, collectively, there are so many of us who share a vision of a better and more just world.

Despite the fact that this work is a continuous reminder that there is so much more I could be doing, I consider the knowing of it a gift, one that has imbued my life with more meaning and purpose. So bragging or complaining? I guess I’m bragging about what I’ve accomplished and complaining because there’s so much left to do.

As I leave the CC staff and assume the post as health editor of Dragonfly Media, I want to acknowledge all my kindhearted associates who work so hard to help Conscious Choice connect with those who want meaning in their lives. I extend a warm welcome to my successor, Marla Donato, a veteran reporter and editor (Chicago Tribune, UPI) who has found her way to us because she desires to go down a different road journalistically.

I will continue contributing to the pages of Conscious Choice as Dragonfly health editor, a role that will draw on my passion for mind, body and spirit medicine and my education as a nutritionist. I look forward to being with you again.

Yours in Community, Peace and Love,
Rebecca Ephraim

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