Sadness brings Inspiration

I was recently asked where I got my writing inspiration; experience, tragedy, joy. There are those adages that say, 'write what you know,' 'show don't tell'. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, times of sorrow make us look deep within ourselves and often cause us to change something about our lives or some quality within ourselves...we find our voice...and then we write. It doesn't negate the tragedy or the trials we endure but it allows us to make it less severe and, perhaps, shorter, and more endurable.