1 Running toward failure is a concept by the poet Eileen Myles. I read about it here: Eileen Myles, “Being Female,” The Awl, February 14, 2011, at https://www.theawl.com/2011/02/being-female/.
2 “Don’t mistake it for the truth itself. A finger pointing at the moon is not the moon. The finger is needed to know where to look for the moon, but if you mistake the finger for the moon itself, you will never know.” Thich Nhat Hanh, Path of Compassion: Stories from the Buddha’s Life (Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 2008).