I feel very rich when I have time to write and very poor when I get a regular paycheck and no time at my real work. Natalie Goldberg More Quotes by Natalie Goldberg More Quotes From Natalie Goldberg When you write, don't say, "I'm going to write a poem." That attitude will freeze you right away. Sit down with the least expectation of yourself; say, "I am free to write the worst junk in the world." Natalie Goldberg expectationswritingattitude Have compassion for yourself when you write. There is no failure - just a big field to wander in. Natalie Goldberg fieldscompassionwriting It is very important to go home if you want your work to be whole. You don't have to move in with your parents again and collect a weekly allowance, but you must claim where you come from and look deep into it. Come to honor and embrace it, or at the least, accept it. Natalie Goldberg parenthomemoving Ultimately, writing is about trusting your own mind. It is an act of discovery. Natalie Goldberg mindwritingdiscovery Nobody cares much whether you write or not. You just have to do it Natalie Goldberg nobody-carescarewriting We never graduate from first grade. Over and over, we have to go back to the beginning. Natalie Goldberg graduatesgradesfirsts After you have finished a piece of work, the work is then none of your business. Go on and do something else. Natalie Goldberg none-of-your-businesspiecesgoes-on Finally, if you want to write, you have to just shut up, pick up a pen, and do it. I'm sorry there are no true excuses. This is our life. Step forward. Maybe it's only for ten minutes. That's okay. To write feels better than all the excuses. Natalie Goldberg feel-bettersorrywriting Too often we take notes on writing, we think about writing but never do it. I want you to walk into the heart of the storm, written words dripping off hair, eyelids, hanging from hands. Natalie Goldberg heartwritingthinking Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make it so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, or drop a jar of applesauce. Natalie Goldberg legsfalling-in-lovetrying The aim is to burn through to first thoughts, to the place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor, to the place where you are writing what you mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see or feel. Natalie Goldberg mindwritingthinking At the moment our rational mind stops, hits against a wall ... something else happens. And a bigger mind, like a pearl, rolls in a silver bowl. Natalie Goldberg wallpearlsmind The things that make you a functional citizen in society - manners, discretion, cordiality - don't necessarily make you a good writer. Writing needs raw truth, wants your suffering and darkness on the table, revels in a cutting mind that takes no prisoners. Natalie Goldberg cuttingdarknesswriting Know that you will eventually have to leave everything behind; the writing will demand it of you. Natalie Goldberg demandbehindswriting When you bring the darkness to the table, it doesn't rule you or hurt other people, but when we keep it secret, it's dangerous. Natalie Goldberg darknesshurtpeople 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." Natalie Goldberg writingjobskids Women are wonderful, but they get so caught up about their body. We need to unhook from worrying so much. When I don't feel good, I look in the mirror and think I look fat and miserable. But when I feel good and whole, I'm not worried about my body because I'm living in it. It doesn't become an object. Natalie Goldberg mirrorsworrythinking When we write we begin to taste the texture of our own mind Natalie Goldberg texturemindwriting In the West, a teacher imparts knowledge to a student. In the East, a teacher transmits nothing more or less than his or her Being. Natalie Goldberg eastteacherknowledge As writers we need to crack open language. Natalie Goldberg crackslanguageneeds
