History is what scholars and conquerors say happened; story is what it was like to live on the ground.

Friendship has no civil, and few emotional, rights in our society.

Story is the mother of us all, for we become who we say we are.

Writing bridges the inner and outer worlds and connects the paths of action and reflection.

The spiritual journey is what the soul is up to while we attend to daily living.

Curiosity restores is a state of heightened awareness. Culturally, this has been considered a child's activity. By the time we're grown, we're supposed to know enough not to get bogged down in life's miraculous detail. But the spiritual journey reactivates our sense of miracle and invites us to pause again, squatting over the sidewalk cracks, to ponder the lives of ants and stars.

My real journey had very little to do with traveling Europe, and a whole lot to do with traveling my own mind.