I like the feeling of feeling my feelings.

Pure memory isn't based on recall but rather involuntary memory that's in your body and your nerves.

In the past I've always been the type of person to try and fit a square peg in a round hole. I can be very tenacious like that. But since I've had my daughter, I've found that I like the way life unfolds when I give the universe some space to guide me. It took me until my forties to realize that.

Being vulnerable has always been my way of dealing with my grief, from the beginning. Even before I knew I was that way, I cried it out all the time. I expressed my feelings.

I grew up around so many beautiful things. My mother's jewelry and purses - they're very much statement pieces. Again, that sort of over-the-top Russian thing where it looks like treasure. I always say to my husband, you don't ever have to get me another piece of jewelry. When your mother is this amazing woman, a North Star, sometimes you want a simpler presentation of yourself.

I want people to think about the connection between mothers and daughters. I like the idea of continuity of life and generations.

Everything in your life is there to teach you something; you can be awake to it or asleep to it. I can't remember which master said this, but he said, when the monsters are coming, you have to let them eat cake. Feed them. The more you invite them in, the less scary they become.