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Anne Lamott on Discipline as Freedom

"Anne Lamott: 'Look at the Tea Party: Some of the angriest, most hateful people on earth, and they’re backed by what they think is Scripture'" at Salon.com (December 3, 2014).

I always say I’m so disciplined in my writing because very strict discipline is the only way I’ve found any freedom as an artist. Like meditation or in my spiritual journey, or exercise – hiking … you never want to do any hard work – you just want to watch MSNBC and eat miniature Kit-Kats. Believe me, that’s what I’d prefer to do. Or maybe try to catch up with old issues of the New Yorker. But in my work, I hold an imaginary pop gun to my head, and I sit down and my butt stays in the chair no matter what.