For a long time, this work was without a name. It sat in my mostly-completed drafts while I tried to reconcile its grim determination with my own lack of motivation, and it took me over a year to put the finishing touches on it. I eventually took inspiration from Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose essays gave me an essential lesson in “Self-Reliance” - one that I lifted for “To That Iron String,” as well as my own personal life.