Don’t Quit Your Day Job
Writing was the sole activity of his life, but not his sole happiness. He knew he had to work like everybody else. He could enjoy doing other work. Yes, if … Continue reading
The Life of the Spirit…Gosh!
“I wish I could make you see how much fuller the life I offer you is than anything you have a conception of. I wish I could make you see … Continue reading
The Admirer
It is a weird thought that anyone is permitted to love anyone and in any way he pleases. Nothing in nature forbids it. A cat may look at a king, … Continue reading
The Forms
The foreverness of real love is one of the reasons why even unrequited love is a source of joy. The human soul craves for the eternal of which, apart from … Continue reading
Right…Now. Or now…or…
In fact no one recognizes the happiest moment in their lives when they are having it. It may well be that, in a moment of joy, one might sincerely believe … Continue reading
Gift Cards and Gasoline
I had a suitcase with me and it hampered my movements, for I belong to the class of people who hate carrying anything. –Vladimir. Nabokov. Despair.
Happy
Tomorrow I will read books, eat a care package of Mom’s ginger cookies and have my next birthday. I’ve got a stack of books waiting to be chosen, but I’ll … Continue reading
To See the Small Things
One never took the time to savor the details; one said: another day, but always with the hidden knowledge that each day was unique and final, that there never would … Continue reading
Mess Things Up.
After all, there is nothing but failure. If at least we have the will to fail we make progress. If we give up each time before we have started we … Continue reading
Ancestors
Because I, only I, see her smile a fraction before it reaches her face…Because her … Continue reading
Lead Thyself
I would rather make mistakes in kindness and compassion than work miracles in unkindness and hardness. Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. –Mother Teresa of … Continue reading
To Slow Down, Change Locations
He wanted to slow life up and he quite rightly felt that by traveling he would make time move with less rapidity. You have this noticed yourself, I expect, on … Continue reading
Shedding and the Herd
October, cemetery paths, the world is losing its hair and its teeth, which is just another way of saying that yellow leaves kept falling from the trees. -Günter Grass. The … Continue reading
How Little I Know
He looked at the snail. Can it see me? He wondered. Then he felt, how little I know, and how little it is possible to know; and with this thought … Continue reading
Sit. Create. Become.
Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning … Continue reading
You Can Tell Me
Yes, it’s true, I was speaking to myself, but don’t we all? We all have a second person buried inside us, a dear friend to whom we whisper to our … Continue reading
Perhaps Today is a Good Day To Begin (Again).
I know thousands of people who are waiting for their lives to slow down so they can become an artist. Your life is not going to slow down probably until … Continue reading
I Want To Tell You Something Beautiful.
After a few weeks practicing my Turkish with various strangers, I’m pleased with my progress–but overwhelmed by how much I still have to learn. Smiling helps. Smiling helps me make … Continue reading
A Warning for the End of the Wanderlust
I would become a respectable person. I left the university, trained for my father’s profession, went abroad to get a better grasp of things, then went home and worked hard … Continue reading
To Pest From Buda L.O.V.E.
Monday I’ll begin a few weeks of putting myself at the mercy of strangers in Turkey as I try to learn their remarkable language. This will most certainly lead to … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 