--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It occurred to me that for a long time I…" description: "\"It occurred to me that for a long time I tried not to write about my own backyard and my home. I suppose I was selfishly keeping it to my self. And in ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/tim-cahill-10465_able_it-occurred-to-me-that-for-a-long-time-i_2305223.jpg" --- # It occurred to me that for a long time I tried not to… ![“It occurred to me that for a long time I tried not to write about my own backyard and my home. I suppose I was selfishly keeping it to my self. And in doing so, I was never able to get out into this incredible wilderness area - by the way, I live right at the edge of the most incredible wilderness…” quote by Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/tim-cahill-10465_able_it-occurred-to-me-that-for-a-long-time-i_2305223.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/tim-cahill-10465_able_it-occurred-to-me-that-for-a-long-time-i_2305223.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/77d/tim-cahill-10465_able_it-occurred-to-me-that-for-a-long-time-i_2305223.jpg) > “It occurred to me that for a long time I tried not to write about my own backyard and my home. I suppose I was selfishly keeping it to my self. And in doing so, I was never able to get out into this incredible wilderness area - by the way, I live right at the edge of the most incredible wilderness area probably in the northern hemisphere.” [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author realized they limited themselves by focusing only on familiar surroundings, missing broader experiences. **In simple terms:** Writing only about home limits perspective. Key Takeaway Expand subject matter beyond comfort zone. Themes creativity self‑reflection exploration Mood thoughtful inspired Type creative reflective When to use this quote - Travel writing - creative workshops - personal growth - nature immersion Key Concepts Self‑censorship environmental awareness Questions to Reflect On - What stories are you holding back? - How can you balance personal and universal themes? A Different Perspective Changing focus may alienate existing audience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Areas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/areas/) [Backyards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/backyards/) [Edges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/edges/) [Hemisphere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hemisphere/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Incredible Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incredible-wilderness-5459031/) [Incredibles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/incredibles/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Long time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-time/) [My own](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-own/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Selfishly Keeping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishly-keeping-5459030/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Tried Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tried-write/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wilderness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wilderness/) [Write Backyard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-backyard-5459029/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“I tried to write a coming of age novel, but I wasn't deep enough to get past the third chapter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-robinson/i-tried-to-write-a-coming-of-age-novel-but-i-wasn-t-deep-enough-to/) [Rick Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-robinson/) > [“I have tried so to write the first chapter that those who can't bear such a story will see at once what they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/i-have-tried-so-to-write-the-first-chapter-that-those-who-can-t-bear/) [C.S. 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The Karowai put those on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/in-the-sago-palms-you-ll-often-find-sago-beetles-which-are-about-the/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [As one of the first editors at 'Outside' magazine in 1975, it was my contention that most American writing going back to James Fennimore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/as-one-of-the-first-editors-at-outside-magazine-in-1975-it-was-my/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [New Orleans jazz is a complex and embracing art form that began about the same time as the blues and encompassed many of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/new-orleans-jazz-is-a-complex-and-embracing-art-form-that-began-about/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [“EARLY MORNING IN THE yard at the Men’s Reformatory at Anamosa, prisoners lounging about, doing lazy time, and here comes John Wayne Gacy, inmate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/early-morning-in-the-yard-at-the-men-s-reformatory-at-anamosa/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [My first book was called 'Buried Dreams,' about a serial-killer, which was probably about ten years ahead of the serial-killer curve. It was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/my-first-book-was-called-buried-dreams-about-a-serial-killer-which/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [Healthier, perhaps, to find beauty in life and feel it expand inside of us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/healthier-perhaps-to-find-beauty-in-life-and-feel-it-expand-inside-of/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [A journey is best measured in friends, not in miles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/a-journey-is-best-measured-in-friends-not-in-miles/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [In 1952, Muddy cut the song 'Rollin' Stone.' It was a nationwide success, and the song echoes down through rock n' roll history. Bob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/in-1952-muddy-cut-the-song-rollin-stone-it-was-a-nationwide-success/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) > [A constant ongoing joke among the people that I travel with is my absolutely hopeless sense of direction. I'm able to get lost a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cahill/a-constant-ongoing-joke-among-the-people-that-i-travel-with-is-my/) [Tim Cahill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) [Explore all 65 Tim Cahill quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cahill/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. 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