The Problem With Children Is

The Old Gods And Their Magics Did Not Dwindle Away Into Murky Memories Of Brownies And Little Fairies More At Home In A Disney Cartoon; Rather, They Changed. The Coming Of Christ And Christians Actually Freed Them. They Were No Longer Bound To People's Expectations But Could Now Become Anything That They Could Imagine Themselves To Be. They Are Still Here, Walking Among Us. We Just Don't Recognize Them Anymore.

We End Up Stumbling Our Way Through The Forest, Never Seeing All The Unexpected And Wonderful Possibilities And Potentials Because We're Looking For The Idea Of A Tree, Instead Of Appreciating The Actual Trees In Front Of Us.

Living On The Street As A Kid Changed The Way I Looked At Everything. It Was A Different Time And While It Had Its Dangers, It Was Nothing Like It Would Be Today. It Was The Summer Of Love And There Was A Real Sense Of Community Among Us. We Were Hippies Who Looked Out For Each Other Instead Of Trying To Rip Each Other Off. We Only Had To Watch Out For The Police Who Liked To Roust Us Just On General Principles, And The Kids Who Came In From The Suburbs To Do A Little Hippie-bashing.

The Thing To Remember When You're Writing," He Said, " Is, It's Not Whether Or Not What You Put On Paper Is True. It's Whether It Wakes A Truth In Your Reader. I Don't Care What Literary Device You Might Use, Or Belief Systems You Tap Into--if You Can Make A Story True For The Reader, If You Can Give Them A Glimpse Into Another Way Of Seeing The World, Or Another Way That They Can Cope With Their Problems, Then That Story Is A Succes.

The Real Trouble Comes From Not Knowing What We Really Want In The First Place.