Thank you so much for your insightful words, and for adding to the conversation. Yes, we do take on these hard lives to create our art, don't we? And by "art" I mean ourselves, for we are the work.

Sometimes I've thought, "When I was a spirit setting up this life, why didn't I make it easier on myself?" But then I always realize that if I had there would have been no pressure to shape the coal into something much more radiant.