Seen this way, Bukowski’s dare becomes less about spectacle and more about interior consent. Rainer Maria Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet (1903) advises asking whether you must write; if the answer is yes, arrange your life accordingly. The pivot is crucial: all the way is not public martyrdom but private alignment—accepting the solitude, repetition, and unglamorous choices a calling entails. Commitment turns from drama into design. [...]
