Rob Tourtelot

A monk once went to see the Abbot of the temple and told him "I am very discouraged. What should I do?" The Abbot replied, "encourage others."

The one practice I kept was writing. It made the cut because I can’t deny how many good things in my life have come as a result of my putting words out into the world. It also felt like a respite: one area where I wasn’t skeptical of my identity. I’m at my most courageous on the page because interrogating my feelings with words feels justified and

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I’m at my most courageous on the page because interrogating my feelings with words feels justified and purposeful in the case that it helps someone else understand the mess of the human condition.

From Joan Didion, delightfully tart, in response to being asked by an interviewer about using the good silverware every day: “Well, every day is all there is.”

AJ Tibando

1d

When I started writing, my sister gave me this advice:

“Don’t tell people what to think, why it matters or what they should do about it - just tell them your story. Talk about what you learned but don’t tell them what they should learn. They’ll either learn it by listening or aren’t interested in learning. And if they’re not interested, ... See more

“There is no knowing for a fact. The only dependable things are humility and looking.”

― Richard Powers, The Overstory