Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of like, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on the ship.
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
2 comments:
Very profound quote. I think this just may answer the question I posed last week concerning books' impact on society.
I read this book no less than three times when I was in college. I love her thoughts on reading and writing. Many of them have stuck with me for over a decade.
Post a Comment