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Let's Say I've Directed That [writing] Energy Into Writing My Latest Book But Suddenly, I Really Want To Write About An Onion. I Don't Say To Myself, "no, You Have Stay On The Subject," Because I Know That The Longer I Stay On The Subject The More Boring I Get. So, If My Mind Wants To Write About An Onion, It Might Be A Deeper Way To Go Into What I'm Working On, Even Though It Might Seem Irrelevant. This Is How I've Learned To Follow My Mind.

-Natalie Goldberg

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Let's Say I've Directed

Natalie Goldberg

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Let's Say I've Directed That [writing] Energy Into Writing My Latest Book But Suddenly, I Really Want To Write About An Onion. I Don't Say To Myself, "no, You Have Stay On The Subject," Because I Know That The Longer I Stay On The Subject The More Boring I Get. So, If My Mind Wants To Write About An Onion, It Might Be A Deeper Way To Go Into What I'm Working On, Even Though It Might Seem Irrelevant. This Is How I've Learned To Follow My Mind.

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We Are Searching For The Core Of Our Lives; Our Culture Intuits That Writing, That Ancient Activity, Might Be The Pathway...awakening Does Not Feed Ego's Needs And Desires; It Pulverizes The Self. Our Society Couldn't Knowingly Bear Such Reduction, So We've Tricked Ourselves Into The Same Path But Call It Writing.

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Sometimes People Say To Me, “i Want To Write, But I Have Five Kids, A Full-time Job, A Wife Who Beats Me, A Tremendous Debt To My Parents,” And So On. I Say To Them, “there Is No Excuse. If You Want To Write, Write. This Is Your Life. You Are Responsible For It. You Will Not Live Forever. Don’t Wait. Make The Time Now, Even If It Is Ten Minutes Once A Week."

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When You Write, Don't Say, "i'm Going To Write A Poem." That Attitude Will Freeze You Right Away. Sit Down With The Least Expectation Of Yourself; Say, "i Am Free To Write The Worst Junk In The World."

Even An Ice Cream Parlor - A Definite Advantage - Does Not Alleviate The Sorrow I Feel For A Town Lacking A Bookstore.

Never Underestimate People. They Do Desire The Cut Of Truth.

So Even Though I Couldn't Bear Writing About Cancer, I Faced It Every Day.

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The Deepest Secret In Our Heart Of Hearts Is That We Are Writing Because We Love The World.

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That Daydreaming Seemed Important At The Time, But When I Asked My Teacher Katagiri Roshi About It, He Said, "oh, It's Just Laziness. Get To Work." But As For Discipline, I Don't Even Use That Word. I Think More About Passion Or Love. What I've Really Learned Is The Way The Mind Moves, And How The Mind Works. Rather Than Discipline, I Know How To Seduce My Mind.

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That's Very Nice If They Want To Publish You, But Don't Pay Too Much Attention To It. It Will Toss You Away. Just Continue To Write.

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You Don't Know What You're Doing. You're Just Hoping That People Won't Make Fun Of You. I Had No Idea How It Would Turn Out.

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This Is The Practice School Of Writing. Like Running, The More You Do It, The Better You Get At It.

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Nobody Cares Much Whether You Write Or Not. You Just Have To Do It

Writing Can Teach Us The Dignity Of Speaking The Truth.

We Always Worry That We Are Copying Someone Else, That We Don't Have Our Own Style. Don't Worry. Writing Is A Communal Act. Contrary To Popular Belief, A Writer Is Not Prometheus Alone On A Hill Full Of Fire. We Are Very Arrogant To Think We Alone Have A Totally Original Mind. We Are Carried On The Backs Of All The Writers Who Came Before Us. We Live In The Present With All The History, Ideas, And Soda Pop Of This Time. It All Gets Mixed Up In Our Writing.

The Muscles Of Writing Are Not So Visible, But They Are Just As Powerful: Determination, Attention, Curiosity, A Passionate Heart.

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Sometimes When You Think You Are Done, It Is Just The Edge Of Beginning. Probably That's Why We Decide We're Done. It's Getting Too Scary. We Are Touching Down Onto Something Real. It Is Beyond The Point When You Think You Are Done That Often Something Strong Comes Out.

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As Writers We Need To Crack Open Language.

To Encounter A Fine Book And Have Time To Read It Is A Wonderful Thing.

We Are Important And Our Lives Are Important, Magnificent Really, And Their Details Are Worthy To Be Recorded.

Writing Practice Brings Us Back To The Uniqueness Of Our Own Minds And An Acceptance Of It. We All Have Wild Dreams, Fantasies, And Ordinary Thoughts. Let Us To Feel The Texture Of Them And Not Be Afraid Of Them.writing Is Still The Wildest Thing I Know.

We Must Remember That Everything Is Ordinary And Extraordinary. It Is Our Minds That Either Open Or Close.

Because I've Been Doing My Practice For So Long, I Knew What To Do Even Under Really Hard Circumstances.

Failure Is What We're All Running From, We're Always Running Toward Success With Failure At Our Back.

Ultimately, Writing Is About Trusting Your Own Mind. It Is An Act Of Discovery.

If You Read Good Books, When You Write, Good Books Will Come Out Of You.

If You Feel Bored Or Uncomfortable As You're Writing, Ask Yourself What's Bothering You And Write About That. Sometimes Your Creative Energy Is Like Water In A Kinked Hose, And Before Thoughts Can Flow On The Topic At Hand, You Have To Straighten The Hose By Attending To Whatever Is Preoccupying You.

Really You Don't Need More Information. If You've Lived Twenty Years, You Probably Have Enough Material For The Rest Of Your Life

[t]he One Thing I Want For You Is To Recognize When You Are Really Singing In Writing Practice And Honor That. Trust That. When You Were Screaming On The Page. Maybe That Doesn't Make A Whole Book But That Is The True Seed.

I Hear People Say They're Going To Write. I Ask, When? They Give Me Vague Statements. Indefinite Plans Get Dubious Results. When We're Concrete About Our Writing Time, It Alleviates That Thin Constant Feeling Of Anxiety That Writers Have - We're Barbecuing Hot Dogs, Riding A Bike, Sailing Out In The Bay, Shopping For Shoes, Even Helping A Sick Friend, But Somewhere Nervously At The Periphery Of Our Perception We Know We Belong Somewhere Else - At Our Desk!

This Is What Metaphor Is. It Is Not Saying That An Ant Is An Elephant. Perhaps; Both Are Alive. No. Metaphor Is Saying The Ant Is An Elephant. Now, Logically Speaking, I Know There Is A Difference. If You Put Elephants And Ants Before Me, I Believe That Every Time I Will Correctly Identify The Elephant And The Ant. So Metaphor Must Come From A Very Different Place Than That Of The Logical, Intelligent Mind. It Comes From A Place That Is Very Courageous, Willing To Step Out Of Our Preconceived Ways Of Seeing Things And Open So Large That It Can See The Oneness In An Ant And In An Elephant.

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Poetry Has Never Been A Favorite American Pastime.

Understand That Writing Is Like An Athletic Activity. To Play Tennis Well, You Expect To Keep Practicing, But For Some Reason With Writing, You Think You Should Come Out Fresh The First Time.

In The West, A Teacher Imparts Knowledge To A Student. In The East, A Teacher Transmits Nothing More Or Less Than His Or Her Being.

And We Can't Avoid An Inch Of Our Own Experience; If We Do It Causes A Blur, A Bleep, A Puffy Unreality. Our Job Is To Wake Up To Everything, Because If We Slow Down Enough, We See That We Are Everything.

I Have Students That I Tell, "if Your Book Doesn't Sell Or You Can't Publish It, Write Another Book. Quit Sitting Around." The Publishing World Is A Business, But It's Not Any Big Deal. An Editor Is Not Your Guru. Your Agent Is Not Your Guru.

Actually, When I Look At My Old Notebooks, I Think I Have Been A Bit Self-indulgent And Have Given Myself Too Much Time To Meander In My Discursive Thoughts. I Could Have Cut Through Sooner. Yet It Is Good To Know About Our Terrible Selves, Not Laud Or Criticize Them, Just Acknowledge Them. Then, Out Of This Knowledge, We Are Better Equipped To Make A Choice For Beauty, Kind Consideration And Clear Truth. We Make This Choice With Our Feet Firmly On The Ground. We Are Not Running Wildly After Beauty With Fear At Our Backs.

Every Moment Is Enormous And It Is All We Have.

Friends Open The Door For Me To Write. Then I Get Paid Attention To And It Allows Me To Write Other Books. The Great Spring And The Thirtieth Anniversary Of Bones Just Came Out And While I'm Happy And Excited About That, I've Already Finished A New Book. That's What Practice Does. You Don't Get Caught.

There's An Old Adage In Writing: 'don't Tell, But Show.' Writing Is Not Psychology. We Do Not Talk 'about' Feelings. Instead The Writer Feels And Through Her Words Awakens Those Feelings In The Reader. The Writer Takes The Reader's Hand And Guides Him Through The Valley Of Sorrow And Joy Without Ever Having To Mention Those Words.

Keep Your Hand Moving

The Things That Make You A Functional Citizen In Society - Manners, Discretion, Cordiality - Don't Necessarily Make You A Good Writer. Writing Needs Raw Truth, Wants Your Suffering And Darkness On The Table, Revels In A Cutting Mind That Takes No Prisoners.

I Don't Mean To Be Flippant About Cancer - It Was Hard, It Was Tough And It Was Scary. Then My Next Manuscript Was About Cancer Because I Had A Whole New Topic To Write About. And Because I Wrote, It Didn't Take Over. Writing Took The Chaos Out Of Cancer.

Whether You're Keeping A Journal Or Writing As A Meditation, It's The Same Thing. What's Important Is You're Having A Relationship With Your Mind.

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Eduardo Galeano

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