Okay, here’s the thing. In all of human history, never once has a bonafide genius said, “I’m a genius.” For millions of years, beginning with the grunts of the Cro Magnon, no genuinely smart person has ever said, “I’m smart.” And never ever while the sun has warmed this planet has anyone with actual knowledge based on evidence and learning voiced the words, “I’m right about everything.”

I was asked the other day what inspires me to write and, like most (maybe all) emergent writers, I faked my way through an answer I thought my audience wanted to hear. It was some drivel about the human desire to exceed the corporeal whatever, and maybe a little about my need to record the essence and not just the facts of my existence. Yada yada.

As I reflect on the same question now, free from third-party pressure for immediate and profound insight, I believe I write for the same reasons, to the same ends, and applying the same principles that drove and guided me in my years as a geologist.