We never graduate from first grade. Over and over, we have to go back to the beginning.

In the middle of the world, make one positive step. In the center of chaos, make one definitive act. Just write.

I came out with a book called The True Secret of Writing: Connecting Life with Language. It's a book that describes how writing is a practice and how my teaching is part of that practice. I direct the writing and create books but underneath, there's always the river of practice happening. No good, no bad. Just do it.

If you love the work, it will love you back.

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

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

In writing practice, there's no direction. You enter your own mind and follow it where it takes you. We have a great need to connect with our own mind and our own true self. And all of us have a story to tell.