Yesterday I quoted Natalie Goldberg who in her first book wrote about the bliss of writing, but a few years later she added this:
“I have not seen writing lead to happiness in my friends’ lives. I’m sorry to say this, I, who fifteen years ago published a book telling everyone to grab their notebooks and write their asses off. No high like it, I said. I meant it–it was true. Now I’m past fifty, and I have given everything to writing, the way a Zen master watches her breath and burns through distraction. Was I a fool to do this? Did I choose the wrong path?…I know no one wants to hear me say how hard writing is—quit while you can.”
Natalie Goldberg
Thunder and Lighting
[…] While Natalie Goldberg wrote about the bliss of writing in her first book, a few years later she added this: “I have not seen writing lead to happiness in my friends’ lives. I’m sorry to say this, I, who fifteen years ago published a book telling everyone to grab their notebooks and write their asses off. […] Original Source… […]