We must remember that everything is ordinary and extraordinary. It is our minds that either open or close.

We are each a concert reverberating with our whole lives and reflecting and amplifying the world around us.

Understand that writing is like an athletic activity. To play tennis well, you expect to keep practicing, but for some reason with writing, you think you should come out fresh the first time.

This is what metaphor is. It is not saying that an ant is an elephant. Perhaps; both are alive. No. Metaphor is saying the ant is an elephant. Now, logically speaking, I know there is a difference. If you put elephants and ants before me, I believe that every time I will correctly identify the elephant and the ant. So metaphor must come from a very different place than that of the logical, intelligent mind. It comes from a place that is very courageous, willing to step out of our preconceived ways of seeing things and open so large that it can see the oneness in an ant and in an elephant.

The muscles of writing are not so visible, but they are just as powerful: determination, attention, curiosity, a passionate heart.

I don't think everyone wants to create the great American novel, but we all have a dream of telling our stories-of realizing what we think, feel, and see before we die. Writing is a path to meet ourselves and become intimate.

Oh, my passion! That is what finally carried me through. Let passion burn all the way, heating up every layer of the psyche.