The woman had looked into the abyss and then walked out across it.

Clear communication between selves - the surface self and the deep self - is the enemy of self-doubt. It slays confusion.

But it's writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you can take it seriously, we can do business. If you can't or won't, it's time for you to close the book and do something else. Wash the car, maybe.

I choose to believe in God, but I have serious doubts.

the only mortal sin is giving up.

Do they see the lethal insanity of a race to the brink of oblivion, and then over the edge? Apparently not. If they did, surely they wouldn't be racing to begin with. Or is it a simple failure of imagination? One doesn't like to think such a rudimentary failing could bring about the end, yet...

You learned to accept, or you ended up in a small room writing letters home with Crayolas.