I was the angriest daughter on earth, and also, one of the most devoted.

Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.

Writing takes a combination of sophistication and innocence; it takes conscience, our belief that something is beautiful because it is right.

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?

Never compare your insides to everyone else's outsides.

It was not facing what life dealt that made you crazy, but rather trying to set life straight where it was unstraightenable.

Once an old woman at my church said the secret is that God loves us exactly the way we are and that he loves us too much to let us stay like this, and I'm just trying to trust that.