Thank for your compliment … and for reading this at the deeper level I had intended. I do think that writing contributed to the negative vibe in my marriage, but I am not sure yet exactly how or to what degree. When someone has an outlet and has committed a great deal of themself to it, that can be hard for someone else to understand. Sometimes I write these posts hoping to purge something from myself (not as often you might think, though) and I forget to be clear. This comes from dismissing the audience temporarily to get at what I really want to say, not what anyone expects or wants me to say. So, once again, thanks for seeing through the words.
I wrote this piece on the fly, in the spare 30 minutes I had to put it together, but even in the limited time I had, I think it speaks to the way I am feeling about the direction my life and creative work has taken. The reference to “drink, the damaged relationships …” are all what I see as post-marriage inevitabilities (for me, anyway). Comparing my resume to those of greater writers, it seems that I can cross these off as prerequsites to greatness now. If I were to flatter myself, I could think I was on my way to the promised land of accomplishment since I have similar life experiences. What is a writer except for experience, right?
The soul I’d exchange all the words for would be someone else’s … a pure heart, a lover, all that. I am a romantic, after all.

Kevin