I'm always interested in hearing how other people read and react to my songs. I hadn't thought of it in just that way. One of the things I love about doing things that are creative is that I feel like it's my right as an artist not to be affected by the reactions of those people that are going to hear my songs. But I also feel like it's the right of the people hearing them to have their own interpretations of what these songs mean. Sometimes people will see things that I don't see.

Girls get competitive, as though there's only one spot in the world for everything _ but that's not true. We need to stick together and see there's more to life than pleasing men. It's important not to cut yourself off from female friendships. I think sometimes girls get scared of other girls, but you need each other.

I also feel like it's the right of the people hearing them to have their own interpretations of what these songs mean. Sometimes people will see things that I don't see.

I work almost completely year-round, since I was 18 or 19. It's nine months a year, and then you're out of town, (there are) crazy hours and all of the things that go with filmmaking, which is a pretty all-consuming business, although I'm very blessed to be a part of it.

I think every year I become happier because I become more comfident and more comfortable in my own skin.

In making a record there are so fewer people involved - at least in our case. There were no more than three or four people in the studio at once. So I really feel like I can stand by everything on the record and say this is something that I personally endorse.

I still have in me the same awareness when I was 12 and chubby and a girl was spitting in my face. I'm the same person.