The Ritual Apology

I keep encountering people during interviews who proclaim themselves woefully inept at communicating or brand themselves as boring. And, yet, often these people end up being the most interesting once they get going.

I wonder if the whole concept is similar to what our writing crew at the University of San Diego used to call "the ritual apology" — an affirmation of inadequacy that is offered prior to presenting one's work that often consists of such gems as "I wrote it at five in the morning after getting back from a bar," or "I wrote this several years ago" — which we found ourselves doing before reading each piece in our little writer's club. Once we branded it, if anyone began to apologize for their work, we'd stop them, chiding in unison "ritual apology" and get on with the workshop.

I think maybe sometimes people just want to free themselves from negativity they're holding inside — these thoughts that what they have to say is not important.

One of the things I try to do in my writing — journalistic, fiction and here — and photographs, is to show that nothing is by definition insignificant.

Sure, we have to filter things we encounter, choosing what is more or less important, but that doesn't make the things we overlook any less significant to someone else.