It seems to me that the question we should be asking ourselves is not whether or not our glass is half empty or full, but rather: What is the substance inside it? And what does the glass look like?
As I write this, mine is a long-stemmed glass filled with Chateauneuf du Papes, that queen of all Cotes du Rhone wines. Tomorrow, maybe it won't be a glass at all, but rather an earthen mug filled with deep, rich green tea from the hills surrounding West Lake in China. I have a treasured memory of sipping tea in a little restaurant there. Its flavor was enhanced by someone telling me, at the time, that green tea can actually improve your eyesight. I love the idea of that, whether or not it's actually true.
Occasionally I write a story about someone who seems to have filled their own drinking vessel with a very rarified substance, and as they tell me about their world, it is as if they offer me a delicious sip.
There was a bit of that feeling when I recently interviewed Rebecca Glashow, pictured here. She is senior vice president of digital media distribution at Discovery Communications.The media trade publication Multichannel News named her one of its Wonder Women, and asked me to tell the tale.