The Beginning of a Better Story

Hello, and welcome back to The Bright Side.

In a world that can feel heavy, we hope this space offers encouraging, meaningful stories that remind us of what’s still good, true, and possible.

In the weeks ahead, you’ll see uplifting content, along with a few new features. One of those is Their Journey, a series highlighting personal stories of faith, struggle, growth, and the unexpected ways people find their way forward.

Since I’m the new editor, I figured I’d go first and, for the first time, share more openly about what led me back to faith after a long absence.

Their Journey: Jason Brudereck

About Jason

Jason has spent his career telling stories, mostly about people and moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. He previously led public and media relations at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and Berks County Community Foundation, and earlier worked as a reporter, columnist, and copy editor for publications from Florida to Massachusetts.

Along the way, he’s learned that the most meaningful stories aren’t the ones we tell, but the ones we live. He’s grateful to now be part of sharing those stories through The Bright Side.

Here’s how he answered questions about his journey:

Q: Can you share about what has shaped you?

I used to think transformation had to look dramatic. Some big, cinematic turning point where everything suddenly makes sense, music swells, maybe there’s a slow-motion walk away from something symbolic. That has not been my experience.

What I’ve learned instead is that it’s usually much quieter. Small decisions, repeated daily. Showing up. Being honest when it would be easier not to be. It’s less “Hollywood ending” and more “Tuesday afternoon, making a slightly better choice than yesterday.”

I spent years trying to outrun my own life and numb what I didn’t want to face. Recovery has meant telling the truth, accepting help, and learning that grace often arrives one honest conversation at a time.

One of those truths is that I’ve had to confront addiction in my life. For a long time, that felt like the end of my story. It turns out it was the beginning of a better one.

Q: What role does faith or spirituality play in your life today?

For me, it shows up mostly in prayer, but not in a polished kind of way. More like ten seconds in the middle of the day.

Sometimes it’s just, “Help me.” Sometimes it’s gratitude. Sometimes it’s nothing more than a pause and a breath.

But it’s constant now, a thread running through everything.

Q: Has your faith always been a part of your life?

No, not at all. From my early 20s until my mid-40s, I pretty much lost it entirely.

A lot of that came from my work as a reporter. I spent years meeting people living in poverty, hearing their stories, trying to tell them well. I wrote an award-winning series and helped produce a television documentary about it. What stayed with me was the realization that the people I met didn’t end up there because they failed. It was almost always something unavoidable. Tragedy. Broken systems. Circumstances no one would choose.

That changes how you see the world. For me, it made it hard to believe that anything, or anyone, was listening. Prayer felt empty. Distant. Maybe even pointless.

Also, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t exactly living in a way that suggested I was open to guidance. It was more like, “I’ve got this,” followed by very clear evidence that I did not, in fact, have this.

Q: So what changed?

Seeking a path to recovery.

What I didn’t expect is that it would bring faith back, but in a completely different way than I understood it before. As a kid, faith was sitting in a pew on Sunday and pretending I didn’t ever think bad thoughts.

But over the last few years, I realized faith can be practiced all day long, everywhere you are. Need help? Need a break? Say a prayer. I started to feel it, not all at once but gradually, that when I pray, something is listening. That it matters. That I’m not just talking to myself.

I don’t have a clean, perfect explanation for that. I just know that today, I pray every day, usually many times a day. Sometimes it’s ten seconds. Sometimes it’s longer.

One of my mentors once told me his first real prayer was basically, “I could really use some help down here.” That resonated with me. Mine wasn’t much more sophisticated.

A lot of my prayers still aren’t.
But they’re real to me now in a way they never were before.

Q: What would you say to someone who is struggling, whether with faith, addiction, or just life in general?

You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t need some big moment of clarity to begin.

Just be willing to be honest. Ask for help, even if it’s just a ten-second prayer you’re not sure anyone hears.

That’s where things started to change for me. Not all at once, but enough to keep going.

And over time, that’s been more than enough.