On humility and humiliation

Buying idealistic dreams is not productive. But persevering through the unexpected difficulties of creative achievement is not only productive, it's transformational.

A writing student recently told me that she was avoiding writing because she didn't want to be humiliated.

“You won’t be humiliated,” I wanted to say.

But the words would’ve been insincere. Audre Lorde said our silence will not protect us, but silence sure can feel like a snuggly place to hide.

To put one’s interior journey “out there” in the public aren…