The Power of "Trust"

I recently read two lengthy interviews with the late Joan Didion. At that time, I had not read any of her heralded works of fiction and non-fiction. I knew she had been a regular contributor to "The New York Review of Books". Here is the segment of the interview which impacted me, as it underscored the power of TRUST: Believing in a person, showing you believe, letting them go.... Question: "Three years later you started writing for The New York Review of Books. Was that daunting? In your essay ‘Why I Write’ you express trepidation about intellectual, or ostensibly intellectual, matters. What freed you up enough to do that work for Bob? " The tough editor of the Review. DIDION "His trust. Nothing else. I couldn’t even have imagined it if he hadn’t responded. He recognized that it was a learning experience for me. Domestic politics, for example, was something I simply knew nothing about. And I had no interest. But Bob kept pushing me in that direction. He is really good at ascertaining what might interest you at any given moment and then just throwing a bunch of stuff at you that might or might not be related, and letting you go with it.