"The universe is made of stories, not of atoms."
—Muriel Rukeyser
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Keynote talk at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference, July 29, 2007

THE VISIONARY BRIDGE

Each of us stand on the smallest and most dynamic and most important bridge in human experience—one that everyone would like to be standing on but few have the courage to attempt. It’s the bridge of VISION--that links dream with reality. It’s a very small bridge and very narrow and uncomfortable when you first step onto it. But the longer you’re on it, the more maneuvering room you realize you have. The more comfortable it becomes standing on that razor’s edge. You learn to tap dance. You learn to enjoy the dance, to sing while you dance.

As storytellers who are here this weekend because you actively pursue your vision, you know full well how narrow the bridge we stand on is, how fragile. But you should also know that we’re heroes for attempting to cross this bridge. I’d like to begin my remarks by reading you a poem by perhaps the greatest Greek poet since Homer and Sappho. His name was Cavafy, and he lived in Alexandria, Egypt, and died less than a hundred years ago: Continue reading…..

3 comments:

therese patrick, author said...

Thanks for posting this!

Anonymous said...

This is great! Wish I could have been there to hear it in person. NOIRE

Anonymous said...

Dear Ken,

I couldn’t agree with you more when you say, --- so much of it is based on FEAR rather than on ENTHUSIASM, the fire of the god breathing within you. Everyone worries about drawing lines and seeking the truth, instead of thinking outside the box and TURNING DREAMS into reality.

Thanks for sharing your happiness, your results, your wisdom and your truth with us. It would be great to hear you speak like they did.

I congratulate you on the standing ovation and on your vision. I am honored by our connection at this time…

Lygya