Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.

It helps to resign as the controller of your fate. All that energy we expend to keep things running right is not what's keeping things running right. We're bugs struggling in the river, brightly visible to the trout below. With that fact in mind, people like me make up all these rules to give us the illusion that we are in charge. I need to say to myself, they're not needed, hon. Just take in the buggy pleasures. Be kind to the others, grab the fleck of riverweed, notice how beautifully your bug legs scull.

Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor; the enemy of the people. It will keep you insane your whole life.

My idea of absolute happiness is to be in bed on a rainy day, with my blankie, my cat, and my dog.

Being a parent is absolutely exhausting and draining, along with all the joy and love.

Grace is the light or electricity or juice or breeze that takes you from that isolated place and puts you with others who are as startled and embarrassed and eventually grateful as you are to be there.

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.