A Little Acceptance Goes a Long Way

I'm still ready to explode with joy after getting my first acceptance of a non-philosophical piece EVER! I get to make a radio documentary! Last week I made a pitch to a radio show called Outfront. Here's what they say on the website:

Outfront is the show where you get to make radio. In other words: Your stories, your radio show.

So, how do you get on Outfront? Simple. Send us your story idea! If we accept it, we'll set you up with recording equipment and teach you how to use it. One of our wonderful producers from across the country will work with you to get you story to air. And, bonus, you'll get paid for it!

Now the thing of it is, Outfront is not on just any old radio station. It's a show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's, Radio One. The CBC is a much-loved and revered pillar of Canadian society. It's like toques and bagged milk. Aside from Hockey Night in Canada, CBC TV is known to be lame, but CBC radio is a cut-above. To say that it's Canada's version of NPR doesn't quite do it justice, but it comes close.

Now, I have shared here before that I am quite used to rejection. Also, as yesterday's post indicated, I'm feeling myself in a bit of a slump, funk, pit (albeit a shallow one, nothing like the abyss of disaffected youth). I was about to go out the door when I decided to do a last-minute check of the e-mail. There, in my inbox, was a message with the subject heading: "Your pitch to Outfront." Oh, I've seen this kind of thing before. So I was immediately beset by the usual symptoms. My heart started thumping more loudly. I began asking myself whether I was in any state to take a rejection with equanimity. I debated, briefly: do I open it now, or later (the answer is rarely, if ever, later)? With no envelope to hold up to the light, my index finger poised to right-click, and bracing myself for bad news (I need to re-read that post of mine where I said I wouldn't regard unopened mail with such suspicion), I went for it.

Rejections, I have come to know, are typically a lot shorter than acceptances. So when I initially eye-balled the brief paragraph before me, I felt a wave of defeat. I read on:

Thanks for sending us your pitch. Our producers would like to proceed with your piece, and one of them will be in touch with you soon to discuss next steps. So sit tight!

I look forward to hearing your story.

I read it and read it and read it again. Their producers would like to proceed with my piece! She looks forward to hearing my story. Rarely have I ever being so emotionally overcome, so taken with joy (okay, okay, I did sob all the way down the aisle and all the way through my marriage vows).

I am excited about the opportunity to bring the story to radio, and I am thrilled to have (finally) pitched something that is of interest. A few more of these acceptances, and I just might start feeling like a real writer.