I read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's memoir Living to Tell the Tale once, during a period of sadness in my life. What struck me most was the way Marquez seemed to explore every opening in his life, even as it brought him to misfortune, even as it made him face the wrong end of an ancient revolver or drove him to such anguish that he wept until dawn. Nothing is wasted. Whatever the consequences, seizing these openings led to such rich worlds. He reminded me that I needed to seize my own openings, in life and in writing, to follow them to their unknown destinations, regardless of the outcomes. For the day vibrates as if every thing would speak the word that would describe itself.




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