on writing

A very thoughtful reader of the blog sent me this passage:

From THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE, Maxine Hong Kingston

"Writing is like meditation: you sit breathing in silence, only you add one thing--the writing. Instead of letting thoughts and pictures and feelings go by, you hold on to them. You slow them down. You find the words for them ... Writing, you shine light--the light of your intelligence--into a scene of the past, into the dark of forgotten things, fearful things. ...Writing, you change. And you change the world, even the past. You make history ...Write things out, and you won't need to carry memories in your body as pain. The paper will carry your stories. We, your readers, will help you carry your stories. See how light paper is?"