In our family, the sound gets turned off during TV commercials. It recently occurred to me that these soundless visual stories are doing more than selling products. Many of them may depict lived-out hope!
I see a lot of ads related to health, automobiles, medical conditions, insurance and legal help. I witness pleas from charities and other non-profits, teasers for coming shows and a smattering of public interest spots. What seems to be a prevailing element in most of these ads—however long and for whatever products or services—is story-telling. Positive and hopeful story-telling.
I watch mostly network programs in the evening, and so may be encountering advertising messages that are aimed at people like me. Because the sound is muted, I don’t pay complete attention to what they’re selling. Still, these fictional life-moments feel encouraging because they’re aspirational about life.
With the spoken sales pitches muted, the visual stories that the actors tell can be heartening: Good people finding satisfaction in their lives because of their relationships with others. Inter-racial friendships and marriages; people eating and playing together; folks living well despite their physical or mental challenges. Lawyers averting possible dangers. Adventurous seniors who look and act like me. Small joys and kindnesses soaking into everyday encounters. Life-changing medicines creating small medical miracles. Active people gratefully aware of their surroundings and relationships. Caring leaders trying to change the world. In short: Hope portrayed and realized.
These silent vignettes provide just enough information to spark my imagination and carry their embedded possibilities into my own ways of thinking and acting hopefully.
An invitation: If you mute the sound on the TV commercials you encounter, it might be possible that you’ll have the same hope-finding experiences.
I hope so!
(To receive these entries when they are posted, go to the upper right-hand corner of the top banner and click on the three dots or parallel lines. Scroll down to the subscription form and enter your information.)
