in writing we live life twice: once in the experience, and again in recording and reflecting upon our experience.

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

Ritual is the way you carry the presence of the sacred. Ritual is the spark that must not go out.

Forgiveness is the act of admitting we are like other people. We are prone to make mistakes that cause confusion, inflict pain, and miscommunicate our intentions ... The only choice we have is to reconcile ourselves to our own flaws and the flaws of other people, or withdraw from the community.

Spiritual life is contractual.

The reason I spend thousands of lifetime hours creating something 99 percent of which no one else is likely to ever read is that writing itself is the gift.

We live in story like a fish lives in water. We swim through words and images siphoning story through our minds the way a fish siphons water through its gills. We cannot think without language, we cannot process experience without story.