God, what a ghastly enterprise to be in, though-and what an odd way to achieve success. I'm an exhibitionist who wants to hide, but is unsuccessful at hiding; therefore, somehow I succeed.

So yo then man what's your story?

In reality, genuine epiphanies are extremely rare. In contemporary adult life maturation & acquiescence to reality are gradual processes. Modern usage usually deploys epiphany as a metaphor. It is usually only in dramatic representations, religious iconography, and the 'magical thinking' of children that insight is compressed to a sudden blinding flash.

Talent is its own expectation, Jim: you either live up to it or it waves a hankie, receding forever.

I don't want to hurt myself. I want to stop hurting.

The individual's right to pursue his own vision of the best ration of pleasure to pain: utterly sacrosanct.

[T]o really try to be informed and literate today is to feel stupid nearly all the time, and to need help.