Josh:
It's interesting to me how someone can sit in front of a camera or an audience and share something that seems to be meaningful to them. I really don't think I could do that. It's been my problem with writing all along; everything that I care enough to write about, I don't want to write about. I think you have to distance yourself and separate yourself from what ever you want to write about and I have trouble doing that. Sometimes I wonder if it's better to just experience things rather than think about them. I don't think that words can fully give justice to an emotion and maybe by writing about something you care about you take away from it.

Ela:
To distance yourself and separate yourself are the last things I would ever want you to do. Is this logistical or because exposing feelings is too risky? Are experiencing things and thinking about them mutually exclusive? Can thinking be part of the experience? What kind of thinking would that be?

I have learned a way to write, a way to position myself or part of myself to actually get closer to my feelings and love them being there--joyous to painful to joyous to...through writing. The hesitation you express is actually brilliant because it shows that you value the feeling part of a story and recognize its vulnerability...all I can say is the feeling part of a story is usually the last part most people recognize, tend to and protect and yet I believe it is the innermost essence. True, words about emotions are not, themselves, emotions, but they can reflect emotions and confirm their existence, their value and hold them near.

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