The creative act is a form of dreaming

My friend Michael Lipson and I recorded this interview the other day, and I then added an intro a few mornings later sitting in my van Hood River, Oregon, on my way to Seattle and then on to Vancouver Island as part of a summer road trip.

As you know if you’ve been following the progress of my memoir, An Ordinary Disaster is just about finished. I published chapter 26 earlier this week, and there are three or four more short chapters that are just about entirely already written that I’ll be releasing over the coming weeks.

In the meantime, after seven months solid of full-time writing, I feel free enough to jump in the van and visit some friends up and down the coast and also to spend some time in the high Sierra. When I get back from all of that around mid-September, I’ll begin the process of editing and publishing.

Collectors Edition + Golden Ticket

Speaking of publishing, I am planning on producing a special first edition for subscribers and early supporters—a collectors edition, you could say, each copy of which will include a ⭐️⭐️ GOLDEN TICKET ⭐️⭐️

Each golden ticket is unique to the ticket holder, and will be redeemable when the correct moment presents itself for a specific piece of magic applicable to the unique situation, field, or relationship that exists between the two of us.

Especially if you’ve been following my work with interest, now is the time to become a paying subscriber. Paying subscribers will be able to order a FREE* copy of the first edition of the book (you pay only shipping), and, also, just as importantly, your commitment will show your appreciation for the work I’m doing here, and your support as I move into the next chapter of the book’s journey.

An interview with the author

The following conversation is part of the body of work surrounding my book-length memoir An Ordinary Disaster—one man's proof that despite what may seem like our inability to hear it, and all of our attempts to avoid it, we can all learn to listen to ourselves, and to act upon the inner voice of our self, our sanity and our soul.

I'd love to hear from you after listening, so don't be shy about leaving a comment or a question. In particular, as you listen, please take note of the timestamp of any passages that really hit home for you, and share those with me in a comments below. That will help me assemble the transcript, and a short edit to share around later.

Use the Substack audio player at the top of the page ⬆️ to listen to the interview.

Highlights

13:39 …how it's possible to forget something as important as what I was supposed to be, and then, a long ways down the road, come back to fully remembering—not coincidentally, a the point when I was also finally in a position to pursue that.

14:39 What was it like to begin and what were you seeking by doing that?

15:19 …part of the reason that writing began to resurface was my experience changing my relationship with alcohol.

17:19 I was asked to state my purpose and I said, “I'm here to tell the truth.” That felt true, and a very clear, spontaneous expression of the answer to the question of what I'm here to do in this chapter of life.

19:59 I was tired of feeling l