Love liberates. It doesn't just hold, that's ego. Love liberates.

I love the melodies in the Old Testament, how preachers highlight them when they read from the Scripture. But I was influenced forever by the New Testament. I love the Beatitudes, informing us that the meek shall inherit the earth.

I think we have systematically and critically harmed ourselves and many young people by advising them not to try things.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights. I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as 'making a life'. I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back.

When I'm writing, I write. And then it's as if the muse is convinced that I'm serious and says, 'Okay. Okay. I'll come.'

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow.