“Because this business of becoming conscious, of being a writer, is ultimately about asking yourself, How alive am I willing to be?”

Source: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Anne Lamott146

Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist 1954

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“To participate requires self-discipline and trust and courage, because this business of becoming conscious, of being a writer, is ultimately about asking yourself, as my friend Dale puts it, How alive am I willing to be?”

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Source: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

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Variant: Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
Source: The Living Wisdom of Howard Thurman: A Visionary for Our Time

“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”

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“How does one become a butterfly?" she asked.
"You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”

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Variant: How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.
Source: Hope for the Flowers