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Editor Brandon D. Oliver
“All of our actions have an impact. Each decision we make ripples into the future. And we alter our landscapes according to our needs.”
– Lao Ge, “The Rise of Kyoshi”
“Avatar: The Last Airbender” is a wildly popular animated TV show that aired from 2005 to 2008 and spawned a sequel series, numerous books, a podcast, an upcoming live-action TV adaptation, numerous upcoming animated movies and a 2010 live-action movie about which we do not speak. Despite its massive popularity, I didn’t watch the original series until April or so in 2020 when everyone had to stay indoors. To have been introduced to something so late in the game, I’ve become more of a fan than I could have imagined.
The concept of the Avatar-verse, as it’s sometimes called, involves a world divided into four nations with distinct people: the go-with-the-flow Water Tribe; the diverse, enduring Earth Kingdom; the willful, passionate Fire Nation; and the materially-detached, good-humored Air nomads. In each nation are benders, people who can control that nation’s eponymous element through some mystical mix of martial arts and telepathy.
And then there is the Avatar, the one living person in that universe who can bend all four elements and has adopted traits from all four nations. When that person dies, their spirit is reborn into a different person in the next nation in the fire-air-water-earth cycle, passing on their collective knowledge and abilities to every Avatar to come. The same spirit in different hosts until the end of time.
You may be saying, “Brandon, get to the point,” or, “Who promoted the long-winded nerd to the editor’s chair?” I swear I have a point.
I’ve rambled about the Avatar-verse because I adore the juxtaposition of one soul inhabiting such different people who behave and carry out their duties in such varying methods. That observation has been incorporated into my real life as I continue working toward becoming an exceptional editor. There are qualifications people expect a journalism leader to have, ways they expect that person to behave. In the short time I’ve been the editor of the Palatka Daily News, I’ve learned enough to know there is no one way to approach the job, no sole manner in which to present myself.
Until 2022, I’d only seen the original Avatar show and its sequel, “The Legend of Korra,” and as such, I’d only gotten a glimpse into how Avatars Aang and Korra came to power and carried out their duties. It took a while for me to appreciate the sequel because I wasn’t prepared for how dissimilar Korra was to Aang. That initial resistance to the Avatars’ individuality morphed into appreciation and, dare I say, awe.
While reading the books “The Rise of Kyoshi” and “The Shadow of Kyoshi,” I witnessed how difficult it was to find, train, guide and otherwise interact with this person who is put in a position that carries much responsibility. Unlike the Avatars before her and those who would come after her, Kyoshi began training later than what was expected. To make matters worse, according to some people in that universe, the training was administered by wanted criminals who only tolerated her because of loyalty to her deceased parents.
My background is nowhere near as colorful, but I identify with Kyoshi. I didn’t start my journalism career until six years after I left college. Now that I’m the editor, I am in a near-constant state of anxiety over whether I’m doing a good job and whether people think I have what it takes.
I’m respectful of the work of my predecessors but I’m learning to forge my own path. That is why I empathize with Kyoshi – and why I will likely have her tattooed somewhere on my body. After months, if not years, of feeling unworthy to fill her predecessors’ shoes, Kyoshi eventually discards the shackles of expectation and establishes herself as a uniquely singular leader.
That’s where I currently find myself. I’m not dwelling on how many or which people used to work here. How people think I hold up next to Casmira, Wayne, Scott, Al, Larry or any other Daily News editor before me is of no consequence. This is my time to lead, and I must oversee operations the way I choose. I’m not bold enough to disregard the instruction of my superiors or the advice and lessons from the people who did this job before me. However, I cannot maximize my potential if I spend all of my time second-guessing myself and wondering what so-n-so would do.
So as I, still fresh off my six-month editor’s anniversary that took place Wednesday, power ahead, I aspire to be more like Kyoshi: larger than people might expect, cool demeanor unless provoked, decisive when it counts, and confident in my abilities and methods.
I encourage each of you to find your inner Kyoshi and grow into your confidence as I’ve done since July. Our respective roads aren’t always easy, but if we stand firm in our experiences, open ourselves to different points of view and keep a team of beloved companions by our sides, we can face whatever is thrown at us.
And whenever we step away from our positions or leave this thing called life, we will have contributed to the foundation of those who come after us.
Brandon D. Oliver is the editor of the Palatka Daily News. He can be reached at boliver@palatkadailynews.com