It was an exciting week here at Visible Authority Central Command. We had our own little Apollo 13 moment approaching a big regional airport.

But wait.

What if that wasn’t what you wanted to make your video about? How might you use that story anyway?

I would give this simple technique a try if you haven’t before. It’s fun!

    12 replies to "A Scary Simple Scripting Shortcut"

    • James Lewis

      Ah, Steven. You inspire me! And I share your commitment to speak into the lives of others; to build them up. I was in TV news for quite a while and sharpened my writing skills and on-camera effectiveness. But it was wearing me down. Always highlighting the negative aspects of life when there’s so much positivity swirling around us. I gave it up. (He breathes a sigh of relief.) Now doing TV commercials and trying to hustle gigs as a spokesperson. Same skillset as being an anchor. But not nearly as much dog poop on my spirit.

      • Steven Washer

        Not to mention the lightness in your comment. Thanks for sharing!

    • Jeremy Latham

      Any landing you can walk away from is a good one Steve. Great recovery from a sticky situation. Good training, attention to detail, a cool head and trusting your instincts give you the best chance of a successful outcome when things go pear shaped. It’s the same in surgery.

      • Steven Washer

        Baby Blue is celebrating by getting an all-new alternator and voltage regulator…and paint job. 🙂

    • Paul Lanigan

      New trousers?

      • Steven Washer

        Ha. Only my dry cleaner knows!

    • Jay Creighton

      Thank you, again, Steve, for reminding us of the power of the METAPHOR. Metaphors are all around us, if we’ll just open our minds to them. I have to remind myself of this all the time. And of course, you’re right: Metaphors are so powerful that the right metaphor explains, in few words, what would otherwise take many, many words to explain–and long before one is finished, the viewer has moved on.

      I’m really glad that your years of flying prepared you for the brief scare you experienced. The world is certainly much better off with you in it! Thanks again.

      • Steven Washer

        The power can be just off the charts, but it’s a quiet power, so very easy to overlook. Happy to be in the world, by the way!

    • Stephan

      Sometimes I wonder whether you need to wait for such things to happen to bring up such a great story and talk about metaphors. Either way: Listening to you is truly inspiring. Thank you!

      • Steven Washer

        Glad it landed for you! You don’t have to wait, of course. I rarely do. Jay mentioned being aware of metaphors floating around in your life. I think it’s often a good idea to strike while the incident is fresh in your mind. Chekov might not agree, but then he wasn’t facing a weekly deadline on writing The Cherry Orchard.

    • MICHELLE TWOHIG

      I love metaphors! Metaphors in Nature inspire my photographic art of emotions.

      Really glad you landed safely, Steven. Your story recalled my first flight in a 9-seater jet I thought would be my last. We landed in 50 mph winds that were causing our wings to teeter-totter so much I was sure one would hit the ground and send us cart-wheeling into oblivion. Just before that happened, our pilot gunned the engine. I breathed a sigh of relief thinking we were aborting the landing for a go-round, but instead, the burst of power/speed somehow neutralized the effect of the wind and we landed, wings behaving beautifully, and wheels touching the ground so softly we barely felt them. We all broke into applause.

      As we walked into the terminal together realizing just how much we really do love life, we learned the pilot had originally been a fighter pilot. It’s also when he told us the Southwest 737 in front of us aborted its landing. So that’s what he was watching as he made his decision to go for it.

      • Steven Washer

        Well that sounds excessively exciting. I like your pilot. It reminds me of a time I was flying a plane just like Baby Blue and as I turned final to land the tower announced winds at 50mph straight down the runway. I landed at 60 knots and almost immediately was rolling out at walking speed. Truly bizarre and very, very cool.

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