Nourish the world with your words, yo.

When you study postpartum depression, there is a very clear understanding that in communities where you see more support, there is less depression.

Conventional wisdom tells us we'll only be happier after a divorce if the marriage itself was a war zone.

I think there are different kinds of happiness. We know when we're happy a lot of the time, but then there are those moments that have more of an afterglow, when the happiness has more depth.

Maybe it goes without saying that if you want to become a famous writer before you’re dead, you’ll have to write something. But the folks in my classes with the biggest ideas and the best publicity shots ready to grace the back covers of their best-selling novels are also usually the ones who aren’t holding any paper.

I've never been socially outgoing, but I suspect I've gotten more and more ambivalent about making new friends. I'm irritated by how-do-you-do chit-chat, but that's how new relationships usually begin.

When I was a kid, my mother's parenting style teetered between benign neglect and intense bouts of violence.