From spiritual connection springs kindness, connection, social activism, and love.

My son is now fourteen, and from the moment he was born, I understood that forevermore my heart would be walking around outside my body.

I'm an urban person who loves living in the country.

The fact is that most husbands, regardless of religion - it's an old-fashioned gender divide where the husband wants to stay home and the wife is the one who drags herself and her children to whatever spiritual center they're going to.

In a creative journey, it is essential, no matter how far one runs, to examine that which is closest to home.

This sadness wasn't a huge part of me--I wasn't remotely depressed--but still, it was like a stone I carried in my pocket. I always knew it was there. [p. 179]

Writing well involves walking the path of most resistance. Sitting still, being patient, allowing the lunatic dream to take shape on the page, then the shaping, the pencil on the page, breathing, slowing down, being willing–no, more than willing, being wide open–to press the bruise until it blossoms.