“I have forced myself to begin writing when I've been utterly exhausted, when I've felt my soul as thin as a playing card…and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.” --Joyce Carol Oates
The Fear of the Blank Page
“Every poem, every page of fiction I have written, has been written with anxiety, occasionally panic, always uncertainty about its reception. Every life decision I have made—from changing jobs, to changing partners, to changing homes—has been taken with trepidation. I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.” --Erica Jong
Tell me about a time you were afraid but acted anyway.
... [Continue Reading]The Gifts of Age
“I was at a wedding Saturday with a lot of women in their 20s and 30s in sexy dresses, their youthful skin aglow. And even though I was 20 or 30 years older, a little worse for wear, a little tired and overwhelmed by the loud music, I was smiling. I smiled with a secret Cheshire-cat smile of pleasure and relief in being older – ‘49 and change.’ which even I would have to admit is no longer extremely late youth. But I would not give you back a year of life lived. Age has given me what I was looking for my entire life - it gave me me. It provided the time and experience and failures and triumphs and friends who helped me step into the shape that had been waiting for me all my life." --Anne Lamott, O Magazine
What has age brought you?
... [Continue Reading]The Missing Risk
“The trouble is if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.” --Erica Jong
