"YOU MAKE THE WORK THAT YOU ASPIRE TO BE" ~ Chloé Zhao

"I wish I were this enlightened in real life," I said after I heard my guest narrator, Ralph, read the words in my novel as we recorded one of the chapters in the JOURNEYS audiobook this morning. (Interpretation: Wow, those are some really pretty words and lofty thoughts I came up with. Who knew I had that in me?!) Sometimes when I create something - be it through writing, painting or drawing - while I may derive inspiration from all kinds of sources, during the physical act of creating it, I often feel like I am channeling something outside myself because when I look at the finished product, I don't know how I did it exactly or whether I would be able to replicate it. I guess that's what people mean when they say, "You're in the flow."

Chloé Zhao, the Oscar nominated director of Hamnet, explained how William Shakespeare couldn't express his grief over the death of his son, but he could write a play about it, and then create such an intimate environment for people to grieve together. And in so doing, Shakespeare could finally find the vehicle through which he could fully experience his own grief.

I met Ralph when we were both cast in a production of Twelfth Night, the Musical last year. He and I seemed to form an instant bond and we shared many deep, philosophical conversations throughout the run of that show. Before we began recording this morning, he had a few questions about the characters and the spiritually thematic threads throughout the story. I KNEW I had selected the perfect actor to embody the characters of Giovanni and Gio because he just GOT it. And he sounded exactly like the voice inside my head as I was writing the book.