This week, we are celebrating the release of the book The Faith of Elvis, which I co-wrote with Billy Stanley, Elvis Presley’s stepbrother. Here on the podcast, I’m sharing a few lessons I’ve learned from working on this project.

One of the difficulties of working on this book was that we had far more material than we could fit into it. Billy had so many stories and insights about Elvis and his faith that it could have been twice as long.

One of those items we couldn’t into the book was what Elvis called “the universal law of insanity.” When Billy was a teenager, Elvis once explained this principle to him. He was trying to help Billy see that life gets much easier when you understand that everyone is a little bit crazy, including YOU.

Elvis had the wonderful gift of being able to relate to anyone, whether it was the person digging ditches or the President of the United States. We could use some of this insight today, when people seem so divided and we need to find common ground with people who don’t see the world the way we do.

In your dealings with your family, business partners, editors, designers, publishers, agents, readers, and lots of others who are part of your life as a writer, it’s wise to remember that everybody sees the world a little differently.

We’re all just a little bit crazy. Understanding this can help you relate to people who don’t see things quite the way you do.

Question: Think of a few people in your everyday life. How could the “universal law of insanity” help you get along with them better?