Life is too short not to create, not to love, and not to lend a helping hand to our brothers and sisters.

The writer loves the fog as it pours in; he loves the sun when the fog pours out. The rest of California is Beach Boys country, but San Francisco has that moody thing going on, those blues notes wrapped in moisture, an atmosphere that tempers California dreaming and makes life more real. The fog brings reality, but it is still a California reality, one spent outdoors the whole year round.

A key to a long, productive writing life is finding ways to support that life, emotionally and existentially.

The artist's personality, built upon strong desires and compassionate vision, is by its nature prone to depression.

Almost nothing beautiful or brilliant happens unless a person has thought about it a lot.

Affirmations are not bound up in rules. An affirmation can be long or short, poetic or plain. If you love a phrase and find that it helps you, that is a valid affirmation.

An artist must struggle to accept the shape of this universe - and achieve some important successes.