Quiet, deep breath after any prayer is another form of Amen.

Write regularly, whether you feel like writing or not, and whether you think what you're writing is any good or not.

All I ever wanted since I arrived here on Earth were the things that turned out to be within reach. The same things I needed as a baby - to go from cold to warm, lonely to held, the vessel to the giver, empty to full. You can change the world with a hot bath, if you sink into it from a place of knowing that you are worth profound care, even when you're dirty and rattled. Who knew?

I've given guys blow jobs just because I've run out of things to talk about.' Oh, Rae. Who hasn't

Grace arrived, like the big, loopy stitches with which a grandmotherly stranger might baste your hem temporarily.

But it was the singing that pulled me in and split me wide open.

I can never tell what I'm doing when I'm in the middle of publication because I have no confidence. I have terrible self-esteem, along with boundless narcissism.