I was fired at the pinnacle of my career, on my 39th birthday. And in the year that followed, I learned that there are many psychological phases of being 'let go.'
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Eventually I became involved with somebody, and I was fired.
There was a moment there when it was getting really bad and everyone was being let go. I was, like, 'Can I get fired, please? Can I move on with my life?
I dropped out of school; I got fired from my job. Those were my roughest moments, but I always knew through it that I was going to be great.
I realised those things my ego needed - fame and success - were going to make me terribly unhappy. So I wrenched myself away from that. I had to. I had to walk away from America and say goodbye to the biggest part of my career because I knew, otherwise, my demons would get the better of me.
Sometimes I wish I could get fired.
I've never been fired in my life. From anything. I've never failed at anything I've tried.
Retiring for good wasn't difficult. I knew at the time it was right. I was no longer capable of achieving the standards I'd set myself and there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
There were times, sure, I wanted my career to go better. But once it starts to go downhill, you can never get back, or only to some degree.
When I was 22, I was thrown out of graduate school and then fired from three jobs in a row at higher and higher salaries where I saved nothing.
Being fired was the best luck of my life. It made me stop and reflect. It was the birth of my life as a writer.