There's a gap somehow between empathy and activism. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of 'soul force' - something that emanates from a deep truth inside of us and empowers us to act. Once you identify your inner genius, you will be able to take action, whether it's writing a check or digging a well.
— Sue Monk Kidd
I've always been a journal-keeper. I've always tried to write about how I'm experiencing life, and my feelings and thoughts.
When compassion wakes up in us, we find ourselves more willing to become vulnerable, to take the risk of entering the pain of others.
I came to believe that my true identity goes beyond the outer roles I play. It transcends the ego. I came to understand that there is an Authentic 'I' within - an 'I Am,' or divine spark within the soul.
Stories are amazing and powerful because they can resonate with people depending on their needs and experiences and speak truths we need to hear in that moment in time.
As an adolescent, I went to charm school, where I learned to pour tea and relate to boys, which, as I recall, meant giving them the pickle jar to unscrew, whether it was too hard for me or not.
A lot of time you write out of some unconscious place. I try to trust what is coming and where it wants to take me.
Novels attempt to render human experience; that's really all they are. They are meant to convey empathy for the character.
I eventually found that the soul is more than an immortal commodity to win and save. It is the repository of the inner divine, the truest part of us.
It's always been my hope that I would write a story that would inspire and would connect with people in a way that would touch hearts.
I think there must be a place inside of us where dreams go and wait their turn.
I vividly remember the summer of 1964 with its voter registration drives, boiling racial tensions, and the erupting awareness of the cruelty of racism. I was never the same after that summer.
Gradually it occurred to me that we spend a great deal of life asleep and that dreams are little narratives, little stories. I thought, 'Who's choreographing this stuff?'
I never know how to give advice to a writer because there's so much you could say, and it's hard to translate your own experience. But of course, I always try. The main thing that I usually end up saying is to read a lot. To read a great deal and to learn from that.
The True Self is not our creation, but God's. It is the self we are in our depths. It is our capacity for divinity and transcendence.
I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It's a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It's not something that happens overnight. It's an evolution of the heart.
I think many people need, even require, a narrative version of their life. I seem to be one of them. Writing memoir is, in some ways, a work of wholeness.
People who think dying is the worst thing don't know a thing about life.
