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

It is a great paradox and a great injustice that writers write because we fear death and want to leave something indestructible in our wake and, at the same time, are drawn to all the things that kill: whiskey and cigarettes, unprotected sex, and deep-fried burritos.

Artists and writers have to understand and live the truth that what we are doing is nourishing the world.

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

In our cultural history, all emotions have been more culturally acceptable to women.

I've been thinking about disowning some of my genes lately. I have a few healthy, happy, long-living optimists in my family tree - most of them fans of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy, a major champion of positive thinking. But I've got plenty of ancestors who played out more tortured hands.

They say change gets more difficult as we get older - each year we're more stuck in our ways, more reluctant to learn something new.