Day 7

And today, so much inspiration. The following quotes are from just one of my workshop leaders and just one of the many events I attended today:

“You honor two gods in this writing life. The god of despair and the god of joy. And that’s how it goes. Up and down, up and down.”

“Voice is a fingerprint. It’s unmistakable. It’s the thing you’re working from.”

“Everything you write will be a failure, because if you write the perfect thing, you’re done.”

“Words have echoes, patinas, trace elements. That’s why they’re so hard to find.”

“It sounds paradoxical but what we’re trying to do is make words completely disappear.”

“We don’t have any answers and any answers we have only change the question.”

What more is there to say? The joy is always laced with despair for the journey we know is ahead, but likewise the despair may always be laced with the joy we feel certain exists. And what we wake one day thinking is our best work, will tomorrow sparkle and fade into a wax model of nothingness.

And today I am tired. So incredibly weary and tired from the insomnia preceding the residency and now the intensity of the residency. Something has to give in order for me to get through the remaining days and yet…and yet there is no place I would rather be. Cam says, “Schultzy, you’re giddy here…Schultzy, you’re at home here…Schultzy, you’re happy.”

“I know,” I say. “I know.”

Today’s pic: Room with a view!