“As a human being I have faults, you have faults, we all have faults. Even a great movie has faults. I think a great movie should have personality. And personality means that there are flaws, and you don’t have to correct the flaws. When you correct the flaws you’re eliminating personality. The Greek word for tragic flaw actually means, in Greek, defining characteristic. So the thing which makes the character is the thing which makes the flaw.  Charlie Kaufman’s movies are highly admired and yet if you analyze them almost all of them have some problem in the third act, things that don’t really work—but they’re part of the fabric. And if you were to clean it up entirely maybe the whole thing won’t work as well…Every script, every movie has a certain DNA, and things which seem illogical may work…Because movies have gotten so expensive, executives feel more fear. And that fear rules. And that fear forces executives to make your screenplay perfect. Perfection is the enemy of art. It’s the enemy of character. It’s the enemy of anything that’s dynamic and interesting.”

Nick Kazan

I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited.

Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Besides the many things (portable transistor radios, street football, running through backyard sprinklers) that occupied our time together in summer, us boys never missed an opportunity to convert an empty refrigerator box into a “fort.” If such a box was left on the sidewalk, we quickly snatched it up and using our imagination and duct tape made it into a fortress–as we appointed ourselves soldiers. And then we each begged our mothers for permission to sleep overnight in them. “Thank you, Sir, I mean Mom.” With permissions granted, we planted the box (fort) in a friend’s backyard, as we cut off the top of it so we could see the stars at night–and sleep under them too. One boy’s family had rigged up a walkie-talkie so us soldiers could always reach ‘headquarters’ which was only 50 feet away in one of the parent’s bedrooms. Ah, the simple pleasures of youth.

“Narrative, in short. is more than literature, it is the way we understand our lives. If literature merely supplied entertainment, then it wouldn’t be as important as it is. Great literature speaks to the deepest level of our humanity; it helps us better understand who we are. Narrative is not only the way we understand our personal and collective identities, but also the source of our ethics, our politics, and our religion. It is older than theoretic culture and remains to this day an indispensable way of relating to the world.”
― Robert N. Bellah, Religion in Human Evolution: From the Paleolithic to the Axial Age

“Tell your story.
Shout it. Write it.
Whisper it if you have to.
But tell it.
Some won’t understand it.
Some will outright reject it.
But many will
thank you for it.
And then the most
magical thing will happen.
One by one, voices will start
whispering, ‘Me, too.’
And your tribe will gather.
And you will never
feel alone again.”
― L.R. Knost

Of note, regarding the Vatican. we spent three glorious and tiring hours in its vastness, roaming through its gilded halls and walls. It was mid-November and yet it feels like we are amidst large summer crowds as we make our way slowly through it all. The grand statues perfectly postured along the tall hallways escort us through this immense space. What do they know that we should know? What wisdom do they need to share? I hope to learn from them. We keep moving through this labyrinth. Such stunning beauty and artistry in two and three dimensions. Though the Sistine Chapel I believe could be four dimensions! We will soon test that theory as we finally approach the entrance to the Chapel which is packed wall to wall with souls from all over the world. The entire room feels holy, and the guards remind us often of this fact. Our eyes gaze upward to the famous ceiling created by an inspired Michelangelo. It is overwhelming in its beauty and meaning. Biblical images set in some heavenly order command your attention and spirit. You can’t look away except to gaze at the dramatic Last Judgment that fills an entire wall. Judgement feels like a whole other darkened world in contrast to the complex sweetness that hovers above. Together they pull your attention toward lofty thoughts that will stay with you for a long while.