My life has revealed itself to be a balloon – or at least to have the qualities of a balloon: with the energy of youth I puffed myself up; it took just a few hefty puffs – those few early successes – and I was sure I filled up the whole universe; I couldn’t possibly learn anything new.

Of course, once you have anything, your instinct is to protect it. When your balloon is fully inflated, the tiniest pinprick can blow the whole thing to smithereens. Protecting my reputation – my inflated ego – from the slings and arrows of life became important for me; my own particular response was to hide my talents for fear of criticism (I wrote and wrote but didn’t publish a single thing for years).

Resistance is futile

Sooner or later life forces you to confront yourself, to own up to the likes and dislikes you’ve been denying, and the talents you’ve been hiding; the sooner you do this, the sooner you decrease the pressure and the less likely you are to blow.

As for me, I’m back, I’m writing, I’m having fun…