A small oval mirror rests on an open blank book beside an ink bottle, pale flowers and dark ribbon.

Original artwork, not a still

Catherine Drinker Bowen

Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in the mirror which waits always before or behind.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Writing becomes a second encounter with experience rather than an activity separate from life. The mirror suggests reflection that may follow an event or anticipate it. Living twice does not mean repeating the same moment unchanged; it means meeting what happens again through attention, memory and imaginative form.

Context reviewed

Share this quote