“I don’t know what to tell you. A statement is easy, and here it is: Be yourself. Try to matter. Be a good friend. Love freely, even if you are likely—almost guaranteed—to be hurt, betrayed. Do what you were created to do. You’ll know what this is, because it is what you keep creeping up to, peering at, dreaming of. Do it. If you don’t, you’ll be punching clocks and eating time doing precisely what you shouldn’t, and you’ll become mean and you’ll seek to punish any and all who appear the slightest bit happy, the slightest bit comfortable in their own skin, the slightest bit smart. Cruelty is a drug, as well, and it’s all around us. Don’t imbibe.
“Try to matter. Try to care. And never be afraid to admit that you just don’t know, you just don’t fucking know how you’re going to make it. That’s when the help—the human and the divine help—shows up.”
—Tennessee Williams/Interview with James Grissom/1982
