There are many things that I enjoy greatly—from good company, to wine and women (one can combine all three, which is convenient) but I’ll confess I’m happiest when writing, reading, or just pursuing ideas. Writing comes first—I find it extraordinarily satisfying—but reading would be a close second. I learned while at boarding school, and it was like being in prison and discovering an escape route. From that day on, I was never without a book.
As for ideas, thinking something through is enjoyable in a near sexual way. There is the initial attraction, the pursuit, the inevitable setbacks and complications, and then the consummation. No wonder Archimedes leapt out of his bath crying “Eureka!”
But does rejection enter the picture?—after all, it certainly does where human relationships are concerned. I don’t think it does. Where ideas are concerned, failure is more likely to manifest itself as an indefinite chase because ideas aren’t into rejection—and you never know. And that is no small part of the attraction.
Reading, and otherwise researching, a great deal has left me convinced that—where most issues are concerned—the answers are out there, and that mostly such problems continue because we either don’t look, or we are blinded by ideology regardless of the facts.
Ideology, compounded by greed, is America’s curse—and is inflicting staggering and enduring damage.
Will there be a happy ending? I’m far from sure, but it is fascinating to watch. Everything is material for a writer.
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