We are shaped not only by our current geography but by our ancestral one as well. Americans, for instance, retain a frontier spirit even though the only frontier that remains is that vast open space between the SUV and strip mall. We are our past.

Part of positive psychology is about being positive, but sometimes laughter and clowns are not appropriate. Some people don't want to be happy, and that's okay. They want meaningful lives, and those are not always the same as happy lives.

Joseph Campbell, who when asked what spiritual practice he followed said, "I underline books." Me too.

When you're stuck on something creatively, you can't solve a problem, you go to a coffee shop.

Our happiness is completely and utterly intertwined with other people: family and friends and neighbors and the woman you hardly notice who cleans your office. Happiness is not a noun or verb. It's a conjunction. Connective tissue.

A confused mind is one that is open to the possibility of change.

There's no one on the island telling them they're not good enough, so they just go ahead and sing and paint and write.