as young people seem to be experiencing punishing levels of depression and anxiety, writing is an unacknowledged panacea, a craft that can lead to healthier human beings.

everyone has a voice.

A journal is a monologue; a letter is a conversation, and in most cases when we read old letters, even the letters that belong to us, we hear only one side of that conversation.

Oral accounts are always mediated by teller and by time.

if you’ve gotten your own voice down on the page, you will read aloud and think: “Yep, that’s it. That’s me.”

Writing can lead to reflection, reflection can lead to understanding, understanding can lead to happiness.

Reading the work of others, writing down your own thoughts and feelings: The two are joined.

If, in good times and bad times and ordinary times, people who may not think of themselves as writers begin to set their stories down, in their own voices, in whichever way they choose, it will make history, make it truer, fairer, richer. We need to hear from everyone,

there is a promise implicit in those notes, the promise of something better, perhaps even really good.