When You Are Present, The

Sometimes People Say To Me, “i Want To Write, But I Have Five Kids, A Full-time Job, A Wife Who Beats Me, A Tremendous Debt To My Parents,” And So On. I Say To Them, “there Is No Excuse. If You Want To Write, Write. This Is Your Life. You Are Responsible For It. You Will Not Live Forever. Don’t Wait. Make The Time Now, Even If It Is Ten Minutes Once A Week."

It Used To Be With Chocolate. I Would Put Chocolate In My Studio And Say, "you Know, Nat, There's This Chocolate You Can Have If You Get Over There." And Usually If I Got Over There, I Would Start Writing. Sometimes I Need Get Out Of The House And Go To A Café And Write. Sometimes I'll Write With Other Friends To Get Myself Going. And Sometimes I Just Say "ok, Nat, Enough. Go One Hour. Keep Your Hand Going." I'll Do Whatever It Takes.

Writers End Up Writing About Their Obsessions. Things That Haunt Them; Things They Can’t Forget; Stories They Carry In Their Bodies Waiting To Be Released.

Can We Walk That Thin Line Between Constant Change And Continuation? And In The Middle Of This Flux, Feel Gratitude But Not Hold On? Gratitude Greases The Joints To Let Us Let Go, And At The Same Time To Stop And Realize We Received Something. Gratitude Is The Most Developed And Mature Of Human Emotions.

So Even Though I Couldn't Bear Writing About Cancer, I Faced It Every Day.