In this increasingly popular post entitled, “But I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” a commenter by the name of Kat, whose discussions on Twitter have given me food for thought, linked me to a video by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. Anyone who’s even ridden a subway, gone to a Barnes & Nobles, or walked down the park has made some contact with said book, even if they don’t know what it’s about. They know about a third of the women in their lives have read it, and that it’s probably made loads of money. What no one may ever see is the dedication she put to that book, or how that book may never come into existence if not for her conversations with her different personas and forces.

In the video, which I’m highlighting at bottom, she quotes Norman Mailer as saying, “Every little book has killed me a little more.” The man’s written more than 30 books easily over his life, and there’s this deep anxiety with leaving that much of your person for the world to see.

I think about my own struggles as a writer (yes they exist), and more often than not, it’s that question of whether or not I’m going to make a remarkable post, or a remarkable book, or anything where even a few of someone’s friends has on the bookshelves waiting to be read. Then, I think of the times when I just decided to write what I felt and really felt that writing, whatever the topic is, and more often than not, that’s where I’d get the conversations going, and the replies to my e-mail, or my site. It’s wonderful how that all works, and so, as you all watch this, think about how you are as a writer, and maybe we’ll find some commonalities.

Jose, who is getting closer to finding what he’s looking for …