I don't care whether the people believe me to be a prophet, seer, or revelator or not - I have been very profitable to this people, and I have seen a good many things, and I have revealed many things.
The main characters for 'The Seer and the Sword' made an appearance one night and then haunted me for over five years before I began to write them down. Does that count as inspiration? For me, characters tend to show up, stay on to help with the work of writing their stories, and then occasionally deign to visit after a book is finished.
More than anything, I prided myself when it was all set and done; the faith the company had in me to have seven segments on a television show - you have to tune in to see what can happen next.
MLK, Jr. taught me how to say no to segregation, and I can hear him saying now... when you straighten up your back, no man can ride you. He said stand up straight and say no to racial discrimination.
I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.
I was in Tower Records in San Francisco a few weeks ago, buying some cassettes, and a couple of people recognized me and ran up with albums, and I just wanted to cover my face and have a seizure or something. I want people to just go away.
Your whole life is changed with that first child. Your social behaviors are all turned upside down, you're sleep deprived, but eight months in, my son had this seizure, and it just woke me up to the idea that, oh, no, this can end. And it can end in a way that will destroy you forever.
Scrawling 'I'm gay' in lipstick on your parents' bedroom mirror may demonstrate a personal signature of the highest style, but is not particularly sensitive to their feelings. Upon hearing me utter those words almost twenty years ago, my own mother did what and self-respecting middle-class mom would do: went directly into a seizure.
The doctor gave me several warnings: Never tell anyone unless necessary, because I might be ostracized. Call it 'seizure disorder,' not epilepsy, because fewer people would be frightened. Try to choose a profession as free from stress as possible.
That's all TV acting is. Like, let me find my mark and seem like I'm still acting. Sometimes they'll put sandbags there, but then it's even funnier because you're walking and you're, like, stepping into sandbags, so now you look like you're having a seizure.
Knowing what I know now, if I could have chosen parents, I would have chosen exactly the ones God selected for me.
I know the first female astronauts selected were definitely an inspiration to me, and so maybe I will be a role model.
My daughter hasn't seen me with anybody in five years. I'm very, very selective when it comes to that because I want to make sure that it's real. I don't want her to see me with just anybody because she means everything to me.
I'm more selective now I've got a family. I don't want to work all the time. My daughter's 12; I don't want to miss out on her life. Soon she'll be a teenager; she won't want me around.
Actors very often are people who think it's always about 'me,' and I can see why! No one else is going to support you or say, 'Gosh, I'm sorry about that,' or, 'Here, let me give you a job.' It doesn't happen that way. You can see why performers get very self-absorbed.
Before my accident I was a little too... selfish and self-absorbed and for me, to now be at the place where I can kinda give back and inspire people. I'm blessed. I'm really blessed.
For me, it really is about the self-acceptance... the more time that I spend really accepting and allowing myself to be exactly where I am, the faster it is I move towards what I wanna be doing.
The people who are most attractive to me are those who feel most comfortable in their skin - there's a sense of self-acceptance.
What bothers me is the lack of self-awareness. I don't know if I have ever met a group less self-aware than political reporters.
Self-censorship has become a part of me. I think because we live in a place where community is very important, family is very important, you feel the weight of how people look at you. Even though I might seem very modern and very liberated, I still have a lot of issues to deal with. I'm scared of how people look at me.
