I got a call after work yesterday. 

Then suddenly my mom was crying, sobbing. 

Then suddenly I was mad, furious, screaming, “THAT SONOFABITCH IS GOING DOWN! FUCKING DOWN!”

Then suddenly I was sitting, hunched, crying, petting Sydney. 

Then suddenly then suddenly then suddenly it was dinner time. And Kelsey was across from me. And it was quiet. I opened a beer. Quiet. Quiet. Quiet. 

“I can’t believe this shit,” I said. 

“I know,” she said. 

Suddenly, our family dog was gone. 

Just a puppy, too. Her name was Maya. A car crushed her. Some driver, driving. I dunno. Doesn’t matter. 

I got depressed.

Sad for Maya. Sad for my mom, my dad, the sobbing, the grief, Christ. 

I didn’t want to work. I couldn’t write, couldn’t start. But I had to. 

Then I thought about Bong Joon-Ho. 

He made history at the Oscars this year. Parasite won a lot, including Best Director. 

“When I was young and studying cinema,” he said in his acceptance speech, “there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart…”

“The most personal is the most creative.”

Martin Scorsese (his idol) said it. 

And Bong Joon-Ho used it to write.

And now I’m using it to write.

And you can use it, too, if you’re stuck, if you’re empty, if you need to write but words escape you, be personal.