One poem or story doesn't matter one way or the other. It's the process of writing and life that matters.

You'll lose your reader if you are vague, not clear, and not present. We love details, personal connections, stories.

The problem is we think we exist.

Be tough in the way a blade of grass is: rooted, willing to lean, and at peace with what is around it.

I think book publishing is fun, but I also know I've been very lucky.

While I had cancer, I wrote these twenty-two personal essays about how I lived my life backed by Zen and writing.

Take out another notebook, pick up another pen, and just write, just write, just write. In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write. Say yes, stay alive, be awake. Just write. Just write. Just write.