“When I write I think I live in a golden castle that shines in the sunlight.”
Carolina Maria de Jesus

Carolina wrote Child of the Dark, an account of her down-and-out life in the slums of Brazil. Her diary, discovered by a journalist, was published in 1960 and became a sensation. How fantastic to think that writing transported her to a “golden castle” and created a whole new life for her and her children! Here’s a brief passage — beautiful:

“I dreamt I was an angel. My dress was billowing and had long pink sleeves. I went from earth to heaven. I put stars in my hands and played with them. I talked to the stars. They put on a show in my honor. They danced around me and made a luminous path. When I woke up I thought: I’m so poor. I can’t afford to go to a play so God sends me these dreams for my aching soul. To the God who protects me, I send my thanks.”

So much ink is spilled about the angst of writing that I thought it would be refreshing to share some views on writing as a joyful pastime filled with golden castles. Here are a few gems to inspire and uplift you today:

From Richard Selzer, author of Confessions of a Knife and Mortal Lessons:
“I know Flaubert rolled around on the kitchen floor in pain when he couldn’t
think of the right word. But for me, writing is unmitigated joy.”

From Anne Tyler, author of Celestial Navigation:
“I want to live other lives. I’ve never quite believed that one chance is all I get.
Writing is my way of making other chances.”

From Charles McCabe, newspaper columnist:
“Writing well is a pleasure…Putting your feelings on paper, in coherent
and forceful terms, is also one of the finest of all forms of therapy.”

From Maurice Sendak, beloved creator of children’s books:
“I feel it in me — like a woman having a baby, all that life churning on inside
me. I feel it everyday: it moves, stretches, yawns…it’s getting ready to be born. “

From Cyrano de Bergerac:
“When I write a line that sings itself in my own heart, I pay myself a thousand times.” Write on!