"I started speaking of things I had thought of a thousand times before -- of my anger, of my obstinance, of my refusal to give up the grudges I held against people; I knew these things as well as I knew the back of my own hand. I had thought these thoughts a thousand times before. Still, to get them out made a tremendous difference. I knew them, but as long as they were unspoken, I could ignore them. I didn't have to act on them. Now that I had said them out loud to another human being, they were out there in the world. It would be harder to ignore them anymore, harder to deny them, harder to act in a way which failed to take them into account." -- Rabbi Alan Lew [ quoted by The Velveteen Rabbi</i> (Rabbi Rachel Barenblat) in 2005; the link to the original now delivers a 404 error -- apparently due to a website reorganization at Congregration Beth Sholom -- and I wasn't able to find a currently accessible copy via Google]
To my friends celebrating Yom Kippur tonight and tomorrow, may you have an easy fast!