in going where you have to go

and doing what you have to do
and seeing what you have to see
you blunt and dull the instrument you write with.

but I would rather have it bent and dulled and know I had to put it on the grindstone and hammer it into shape and put whetstone to it, and know I had something to write about, than have it bright and shining and nothing to say, or smooth and well-oiled in the closet, but unused.