One thing I know for sure about raising children is that every single day a kid needs discipline.... But also every single day a kid needs a break.

Where do we even start on the daily walk of restoration and awakening? We start where we are.

People help you or you help them and when we offer or receive help, we take in each other. And then we are saved.

Perfectionism means that you try not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived.

I took notes on the people around me, in my town, in my family, in my memory. I took notes on my own state of mind, my grandiosity, the low self-esteem. I wrote down the funny stuff I overheard. I learned to be like a ship's rat, veined ears trembling, and I learned to scribble it all down.

[S]he believed that the Buddhists were right–that if you want, you will suffer; if you love, you will grieve. (68)

I went to Goucher College in Maryland for the best possible reasons - to learn - but then I dropped out at 19 for the best possible reasons - to become a writer.