Rule In Hell
Trust me, it really is better
The principle of ruling in Hell has been the hallmark of my life.
As a young child and later as an adolescent I often felt ill at ease, locked out of the mainstream of life, uncomfortable, literally, in my own skin.
I had to create a world in which I could experience power and ability on my own terms. And I did. Because of that fact, I wouldn’t give up earlier sufferings for something easier even I could. Doing so would make me less mature, complete, and expressive as a person — and the same is true of you. For that reason, I ask you to consider: the very things that most plague you are the building blocks to your greatest achievement.
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My three decades of work as a writer and publisher provide a case in point. I have labored at prestigious places and at low-rent places. The defining factor in my happiness and satisfaction was always freedom. Wherever I had the liberty to most fully chart my own course, I was not only happiest but also most artistically and financially successful. Personally, I have found it easier to function in a dynamic and self-directed way in places that are outside the mainstream. Sometimes far outside. In Paradise Lost, John Milton (1608–1674) famously had Lucifer put it this way: Here we may reign secure, and in my choice/To reign is…
