The first world we find ourselves in is a family that is not of our choosing.

Believing that all women should want to be mothers makes about as much sense as believing that all men should want to be engineers.

The strongest relationships are between two people who can live without each other but don't want to.

The term girl not only serves to avoid certain anxiety-arousing connotations inherent in the word woman regarding aggression, sexuality, and reproduction, it also serves to impart a tone of frivolousness and lack of seriousness to ambitious, intellectual, and competitive striving that women may pursue.

It is an act of courage to acknowledge our own uncertainty and sit with it for a while.

Throughout evolutionary history, anxiety and fear have helped every species to be wary and to survive. Fear can signal us to act, or, alternatively, to resist the impulse to act. It can help us to make wise, self-protective choices in and out of relationships where we might otherwise sail mindlessly along, ignoring signs of trouble.

As long as we can feel hope, there is hope.