Ocean Vuong

I have good days and bad days with it. There are times I sit up and I said, that email is still messed up. Right? Okay. I'm sitting there thinking about a coffin, and my mind is like, I need to write the essay email. That's 5,000 words that denies all rebuttals. And that needs to put an end to it. This email is going to be the lid of the coffin. Right.

So you try your best, but, you know, but that's my North Star, you know, to kind of move towards that.

So you try your best, but, you know, but that's my North Star, you know, to kind of move towards that.

So you try your best, but, you know, but that's my North Star, you know, to kind of move towards that.

I think I'm going to think about that question for the rest of my life. It's interesting because my mother's language is now inside me after she left. She left me her thinking. And I find myself thinking the way she did. In even times when I disagree with her when she was alive, now I think like her. I'm judging like her.

I think I'm going to think about that question for the rest of my life. It's interesting because my mother's language is now inside me after she left. She left me her thinking. And I find myself thinking the way she did. In even times when I disagree with her when she was alive, now I think like her. I'm judging like her.

I think I'm going to think about that question for the rest of my life. It's interesting because my mother's language is now inside me after she left. She left me her thinking. And I find myself thinking the way she did. In even times when I disagree with her when she was alive, now I think like her. I'm judging like her.

I look at the world sometimes, looking at things, and I say, guys, that's what my mom thinks. Now I think that. And I think they're very porous when they go. They actually leave so much of themselves behind. And for me, the utmost honor that I don't think I can even escape or choose to turn away from is to do this work with immense care and gratitude. I get to try. That's my profession.

I look at the world sometimes, looking at things, and I say, guys, that's what my mom thinks. Now I think that. And I think they're very porous when they go. They actually leave so much of themselves behind. And for me, the utmost honor that I don't think I can even escape or choose to turn away from is to do this work with immense care and gratitude. I get to try. That's my profession.

I look at the world sometimes, looking at things, and I say, guys, that's what my mom thinks. Now I think that. And I think they're very porous when they go. They actually leave so much of themselves behind. And for me, the utmost honor that I don't think I can even escape or choose to turn away from is to do this work with immense care and gratitude. I get to try. That's my profession.

How many people do we know, you and I, growing up, working poor, get to try at no cost? When my mother gets the nail wrong, she needs to stay the extra 40 minutes at no extra pay. My stepdad spent 25 years making a screw that goes into gas pumps. If he makes it wrong, that's docking off his pay. The people who brought us here, their second chances were so expensive that they couldn't afford it.

How many people do we know, you and I, growing up, working poor, get to try at no cost? When my mother gets the nail wrong, she needs to stay the extra 40 minutes at no extra pay. My stepdad spent 25 years making a screw that goes into gas pumps. If he makes it wrong, that's docking off his pay. The people who brought us here, their second chances were so expensive that they couldn't afford it.

How many people do we know, you and I, growing up, working poor, get to try at no cost? When my mother gets the nail wrong, she needs to stay the extra 40 minutes at no extra pay. My stepdad spent 25 years making a screw that goes into gas pumps. If he makes it wrong, that's docking off his pay. The people who brought us here, their second chances were so expensive that they couldn't afford it.

And I get to sit here over a page and try and fail and try again. And so to me, there is no draft that is too much. And I think for me, when I sit down to write or when I teach, I think, gosh, I need to honor them by enjoying the work I get to do. even when it's hard, because we love to complain about work in this country, and this country is work.

And I get to sit here over a page and try and fail and try again. And so to me, there is no draft that is too much. And I think for me, when I sit down to write or when I teach, I think, gosh, I need to honor them by enjoying the work I get to do. even when it's hard, because we love to complain about work in this country, and this country is work.

And I get to sit here over a page and try and fail and try again. And so to me, there is no draft that is too much. And I think for me, when I sit down to write or when I teach, I think, gosh, I need to honor them by enjoying the work I get to do. even when it's hard, because we love to complain about work in this country, and this country is work.

This book is all about labor, and we're justified in that. To me, nothing's ever too sacred to say that even at its worst, I get to work. And not only get to work, I get to work on my own terms.

This book is all about labor, and we're justified in that. To me, nothing's ever too sacred to say that even at its worst, I get to work. And not only get to work, I get to work on my own terms.

This book is all about labor, and we're justified in that. To me, nothing's ever too sacred to say that even at its worst, I get to work. And not only get to work, I get to work on my own terms.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, why? It's eight after the Eightfold Path in Buddhism, which is the path the Buddha laid out for liberation from suffering in this realm. So it's a number that is auspicious to me. When I was a very young writer in my, I think, 21, 22, I came home one day, and I was listening to an NPR piece come home from school, and it was my hero on NPR. It was Annie Dillard.