Now she and I sit together in her room and eat chocolate, and I tell her that in a very long time when we both to go heaven, we should try to get cha….

We're out there somewhere between the known and the unknown, trying to reel in both for a closer look..

My mother was a not-too-devoted atheist. She went to Episcopal church on Christmas Eve every year, and that was mostly it..

I'm kind of a gossip hound, but watching the media whip the small fires into giant forest fires so that they can cover the result is infuriating..

I am drawn to people that are not going to shy away from the very dark, scary stuff of the human condition and in a lot of cases people need alcohol ….

Jealousy is such a direct attack on whatever measure of confidence you’ve been able to muster. But if you continue to write, you are probably going t….

Talking to the parents of older kids was helpful for me, since parents of kids the same age as yours won't admit how horrible their children are..

We all have the dark, ignorant shadow inside us. I have worked endlessly to reveal it and heal it in me, but of course there's some primitive weird s….

This is our goal as writers, I think; to help others have this sense of--please forgive me--wonder, of seeing things anew, things that can catch us o….

My best teachers were mess, failure, death, mistakes, and the people I hated, including myself..

It's better to be kind than to be right..

I think that is why we stay close to our families, no matter how neurotic the members, how deeply annoying or dull- because when people have seen you….

I have a giant ego and terrible self-esteem, so I need to hit the re-set button fairly regularly - to get into presence, and humility, and being righ….

The thing about light is that it really isn’t yours; it’s what you gather and shine back. And it gets more power from reflectiveness; if you sit stil….

Right foot, left foot, right foot, breathe..

The writer is a person who is standing apart, like the cheese in 'The Farmer in the Dell' standing there alone but deciding to take a few notes. You’….

I see that children fill the existential hollowness many people feel; that when we have children, we know they will need us, and maybe love us, but w….

Every woman's path is difficult, and many mothers were as equipped to raise children as wire monkey mothers. I say that without judgment: It is, sadl….

I'm a terrible Christian and meditating is very hard for me, and I do it. I do it badly, like I do a lot of things. I believe in doing things badly..

Left to my own devices, my first inclination is to mess in other people's lives. I secretly believe my whole family, and really the whole world, is m….

My idea of absolute happiness is to be in bed on a rainy day, with my blankie, my cat, and my dog..