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Swarnali Mukherjee's avatar

Anna’s questions are not only super hard hitting but kind of existential for a writer or any creative to ponder on, and necessarily so. To separate identity + value from your body of work renders it antifragile. It might sound counterintuitive but that is the only truth, when you don’t defend your work with your vehement ideas of self or the money you generate from it, your work stands as a test of your love for what you do. That’s how it becomes more relatable, like your beautiful work here with this community. I’m tired of people telling me brewing a perfect cup of morning coffee for yourself is not work - it is work and I love it, damn their definitions.

You have given me a lot to think about Chris, specially how the idea of work is so transactional in the west and the west dominated economies, whereas in countries like Japan work is still a spiritual construct governed by ancient values like Ikigai

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KSC Hatch's avatar

Naked But for a Loincloth...what a delightful thing to say out loud too. Really rolls off the tongue.

I appreciate you going into such depth about the "writing life" and "writing as a living". When I tell people I'm a writer and an artist, I do it because I HATE telling people about the things I have to do to earn money that I'm good at but don't enjoy. I'd much rather talk about the things that are essential to my being, that I've been doing my ENTIRE life, that bring me joy and feed me and are as natural to me as breathing. I also often have to explain to those who have no clue that royalties and booksales bring in a pittance and only the most prolific of authors could expect to make a living *just* from their writing.

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