Recently I picked up the novel “Big Magic”  by Elizabeth Gilbert, an author I didn’t know existed until Monday, yet have come to adore and appreciate. Due to my English class, I am forced to annotate and explore this novel, but it has become a bigger blessing than I initially realized. 

Within this self-help guide, Gilbert defines that in order to live our best lives, we must be creative and brave. We must attempt challenges that fear would encourage us to shy away from and create beautiful work that revolves around our passions. 

She states, “You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures.” 

I read those same seventeen words over and over again. The wheels in my brain started turning; a revelation was created in my mind! I reflected on my time with The Bark. Who were we when we first started? Who are we now? How has this changed? Why does this even matter?

When The Bark finally became a magazine two years ago, our main goal was to publish material quickly and efficiently. It didn’t matter if our stories were perfect, as a matter of fact, they were not. We had spelling errors and the majority of our photos were distorted and even though it was such a giant improvement from where we were before, the struggles overweighed our proudest achievement at times. 

As we continued producing the issues throughout the year, our focus became aggressive with striving for better. First, spelling errors were not acceptable anymore and photos were to be taken on cameras, not our measly cell phones. We longed to be better and set the precedent that we value inciting change.

Mrs. Maestranzi took a leap of faith, made a creative and brave choice to give up any prior form of journalism that we had in order to invent something extremely innovative. As with any big decisions, there were risks and doubts.

Nonetheless, we persevered and created our mission statement, “The comeback is always greater than the setback.” 

Times have changed, our staff has blossomed and grown larger with new members. It’s not the same group of five people anymore, but the heart and soul of their passions continue on with who we are now. 

Within the year of 2020, we’ve all adapted to become brave. Obstacles consistently pop up, but we don’t shy away from them. We’re embracing our most creative lives as Gilberts urges us to. Our sports department is tackling podcasts, our art department is reimagining how we deliver our content through a digital medium, while news and features departments both continue to produce stories to enlighten the community. 

After all, community is the most important aspect of The Bark. We’ve made it our mission to include all members of the GCHS family to enjoy our creativity and view truthful media with the best knowledge of journalistic integrity that we have. 

Over this past year, each and every one of our staff members has learned that it takes dedication and perseverance to accomplish anything during trying times such as these.

As humans, we need support, guidance, and unity which has become a staple in our publications. 

To some the pandemic may seem like a setback; an inconvenient challenge for all to endure. Nonetheless, as society continues to evolve, we’re all moving forward and adapting. Our comeback is going to be unique, even epic in my opinion. We’re going to make lemonade out of this sour situation of lemons and we’re eager to share that with you.