Punctum Saliens

Thomas Merton wrote this in a letter to Amiya Chakravarty and it truly echoes my feelings:

For a writer there is surely not much that can be more rewarding than the fact of being really read and understood and appreciated. After all, the great thing in life is to share the best one has, no matter how poor it may be. The sharing gives it value. Often when I reread things I have written I find them so bad that I am irritated with myself: of course this is only vanity. But once I realize that they have meant something to someone they acquire something of the other person’s value and meaning. What you read and liked of mine I shall like better now because you have all enjoyed them: I will like them because of all of you. I will like them because they are more yours than mine.

From: The Hidden Ground of Love: Letters on Religious Experience and Social Concerns