I just started reading Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. There is a story in there about the poet Jack Gilbert that is worth sharing:)
Jack Gilbert taught at the University of Tennessee just before Elizabeth Gilbert took a post there. A young woman recounted to her that "one afternoon, after his poetry class, Jack had taken her aside. He complimented her work, then asked what she wanted to do with her life. Hesitantly, she admitted that perhaps she wanted to be a writer.
"He smiled at the girl with infinite compassion and asked,
'Do you have the courage?
Do you have the courage to bring forth this work?
The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say YES.'"
