Like a rock in the river

The Rock in the River

I have a theory I have carried around for years, and it starts with spit on the ground. If I spit on the ground, the water in it will evaporate. It will go up and become part of the clouds, and I have no control over what city or state or even country it comes back down on as rain. It is completely possible that water from the ground here becomes rain almost anywhere. That is beyond my control. Just like much of life is beyond my control.

But I do know this. Year after year, so many inches of rain will fall on a mountain range. It is either going to go down one side of the mountain or the other, and flow into this river or that river, in certain places. And there is not a damn thing I can do about it. It is completely out of my control. If I look at the river that water flows into, there is no way I can hold that river back. I am not a dam, and I do not have the power to hold a river back.

However, I can be a rock. When you see a rock on the side of a river, it changes the flow of the river. It does not increase or decrease the amount of water that flows, but it changes the course. When the rock stands firm, it can build a sandbar, and the sandbar can shift the flow of the river, and over time that can change the course tremendously. I feel like a rock in the river. I have limited power, but by doing what I do every day, the way I do it, I can change the flow of the river. Because a rock has no will. But I do.

What a Rock Can Do

This is what the Wire is, if I am honest about it. I cannot change how much rain falls, and I cannot change which river it runs into. I cannot make the governor do anything, and I cannot make the legislature do anything. What I can do is stand where I am and write what I see, every day, the way I do it — name the people, tell the story straight, and let the water go around me. Over time, that builds a sandbar. A person gets named in a story, and somebody calls them. A firm gets written about, and somebody remembers the name. A good idea gets put in front of the right people. None of that is power. All of it is flow. That is the whole business, and it is the only power I have ever wanted.

That is why I write about people the way I do. I do not write to settle scores, and I do not write to tear anybody down. A rock does not argue with the water. It stands there, and the water goes around it, and the sandbar builds, and the course changes. That is enough. It has to be enough, because it is all there is.

The Friends I Want

I would like to have rich and powerful friends. I am just an ordinary guy. Nothing special. Just sitting there, being a rock in my river. So if I want to have rich and powerful friends, I should take the friends I have and do everything I can to make them richer and more powerful. That is the tactic, and it is deliberate: kindness, outreach, friendliness, helping other people do better at the things they do.

How do I decide who to help? I go by who is friendly. When people show kindness to me, I do what I can to show kindness to them. When people help me, I look for ways to help them. I want my friends to be richer and more powerful, and the way to get there is to help them get there.

The Part I Got Wrong

I have not always been the kindest person in the whole world. I know that. Over the years, I have come to realize the error of my ways, and I seek to atone for any past mistakes. So I am reaching out to people to let them know that no matter what has happened in the past, I am willing to talk, and I am more than happy to help them. I mean that. Sincerely. The offer is open.

If I was unkind to you once, or if we fell out, or if you think I owe you an apology — talk to me. I would rather build something with you than carry the old thing around any longer. Life is short, and the river does not wait, and I do not want to spend what is left of it standing in the way of people I could be standing beside.

What I Do With the Unfriendly

I am not interested, as I grow older and more deliberate in my steps, in being negative to people who are unfriendly to me. When I occasionally find somebody who is unfriendly, I try to take whatever irritation I feel and turn it into positive action on behalf of the good people. That is the whole trick, if there is one. The river does not care about my feelings, and neither does the rock. It just stands there.

Let me be plain about one thing, because I know how this town reads things. I write about people because what they are doing is worth writing about. I help my friends because they are my friends. Those are two different things, and I do not trade one for the other. The Wire is the rock. The rest is just me, trying to be the kind of rock the river can build something around.