The Power of Words: Silver-Lining

In 1634, John Milton, an English poet and intellectual, wrote “Comus”, a masque about two brothers and a sister who get lost in a journey through the woods.

In the masque, Milton writes, “Was I deceived? or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night?”

This has evolved into a saying used to express optimism or hopefulness, even amidst dire or dark circumstances.

In the work of crisis communications or dealing with very difficult circumstances that impact real people and real lives, this can feel like a rather trite and even callous perspective. Our work at Bettison has included dealing with life and death situations (workplace accidents and fatalities, public safety issues), and very often a silver lining is rarely felt or even contemplated. Very often, something positive can come from crisis or tragedy, but it takes time to see what may be, even longer to feel it. In these circumstances, I caution clients to be patient, trust that even though we are dealing with something very difficult, there typically is something good that will come from the situation. Having done this work for 13 years, I can say with 95% certainty that this is true.

Twin Cities crisis communications and crisis PR: call us today.