Is that growing old? Or is it something worse?

I wondered, for the first time in my life, if life was worth all the work it took to live. What exactly made it worth it?

In bed that night I invented a special drain that would be underneath every pillow in New York, and would connect to the reservoir. Whenever people cried themselves to sleep, the tears would all go to the same place, and in the morning the weatherman could report if the water level of the Reservoir of Tears had gone up or down, and you could know if New York is in heavy boots.

I didn't intend to write about totems or people searching. I tried not to constrain myself, and this is what I ended up with. There's this great Auden quote: "I look at what I write so I can see what I think."

My dream went all the way back to the beginning. The rain rose into the clouds, and the animals descended the ramp.

It would be possible, in theory, for life and art to be reversed.

Raising your kids vegetarian is a great way to encourage them to do the opposite of what you want! But the goal is not to have them have the same values that I have. It's to have them act on their values.