I used to think freedom meant doing whatever you want. It means knowing who you are, what you are supposed to be doing on this earth, and then simply doing it.

It's okay to embark on writing because you think it will get you love. At least it gets you going, but it doesn't last. After a while you realize that no one cares that much. Then you find another reason: money. You can dream on that one while the bills pile up. Then you think: "Well, I'm the sensitive type. I have to express myself." Do me a favor. Don't be so sensitive. Be tough. It will get you further along when you get rejected. Finally, you just do it because you happen to like it.

Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.

Our lives are at once ordinary and mythical. At the same instant we have these magnificent hearts that pump through all sorrow and all winters we are alive on the earth.

Wait until you are hungry to say something, until there is an aching in you to speak.

Because I've been doing my practice for so long, I knew what to do even under really hard circumstances.

That's very nice if they want to publish you, but don't pay too much attention to it. It will toss you away. Just continue to write.