I stopped needing to run from myself. But this process is hard and when people tell me they are scared of losing their edge, this is what they are really afraid of. They fear letting go of strategies, often enacted years ago, that help them feel safe, and that let them avoid facing what’s underneath. They are uncomfortable not having a plan and

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Often when you sit down to write, what you have in mind is an autobiographical novel about your childhood, or a play about the immigrant experience, or a history of—oh, say—say women. But this is like trying to scale a glacier. It’s hard to get your footing, and your fingertips get all red and frozen and torn up. Then your mental illnesses arrive

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