You are a writer when you tell yourself you are. No one else's opinion matters. Screw them. You are when you say you are.

That’s why an artist must be a warrior and, like all warriors, artists over time acquire modesty and humility. They may, some of them, conduct themselves flamboyantly in public. But alone with the work they are chaste and humble. They know they are not the source of the creations they bring into being. They only facilitate. They carry. They are the willing and skilled instruments of the gods and goddesses they serve.

The awakening an artist must be ruthless, not only with herself but with others.

It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.

To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls.

The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.

Like a magnetized needle floating on a surface of oil, Resistance will unfailingly point to true North--meaning that calling or action it most wants to stop us from doing. We can use this. We can use it as a compass. We can navigate by Resistance, letting it guide us to that calling or action that we must follow before all others. Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.