Growth is an erratic forward movement: two steps forward, one step back. Remember that and be very gentle with yourself.

What would a nontoxic god think of your creative goals? Might such a god really exist?

Creativity requires faith. Faith requires that we relinquish control.

When I went in, my editor said, ‘I hope you don’t think you’re a writer.’ And I said, ‘I hope you don’t think I’m a journalist.’ And, uh, turned out we were both right.

In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.

As an experienced artist, I carry my work like a secret pregnancy. I am always aware of inner life and the need to protect it.

The need to be a great artist makes it hard to be an artist. The need to produce a great work of art makes it hard to produce any art at all. . . Fear is what blocks an artist. The fear of not being good enough. The fear of not finishing. The fear of failure and of success. The fear of beginning at all.