I still encourage anyone who feels at all compelled to write to do so. I just try to warn people who hope to get published that publication is not all it is cracked up to be. But writing is. Writing has so much to give, so much to teach, so many surprises. That thing you had to force yourself to do - the actual act of writing - turns out to be the best part. It's like discovering that while you thought you needed the tea ceremony for the caffeine, what you really needed was the tea ceremony. The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.

Living on Earth has always been a dangerous way to spend your time.

...the three things I cannot change are the past, the truth, and you.

Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul.

And you try to quiet your mind so you can hear.

I love silence. I seek and create it at every opportunity. I need it to work.

All parents are an embarrassment to their kids. Often grandparents are the relief. Kids don't have to resist you.