It is easier to be cynical, closed off, and angry. It is much harder to be open, loving, kind, and generous of spirit.

Although I was raised Jewish, my upbringing didn’t include any formal religious education or training.

One of the wonderful things about human beings is that we can and often do change, not always gracefully and not often willingly, but occasionally just like that, in a snap, we change. Sometimes slowly, sometimes for no reason at all or maybe an hundred and fifty.

Don’t like small talk, love rainy days.

My therapist shared a theory she had come across, and I liked it. It held that before making your next journey in this life, your soul sits at a large, circular conference table and chooses the souls who are going to be a part of your life. As for which particular people would be chosen, I figured they would be individuals from previous lives with whom there was still unfinished business.

My life was a mystery even as I lived it.

I grew up in a dysfunctional family.

My mother, whom I love dearly, has continually revised my life story within the context of a complicated family history that includes more than the usual share of divorce, step-children, dysfunction, and obfuscation. I've spent most of my adult life attempting to deconstruct that history and separate fact from fiction.

Don't like small talk, love rainy days.

Although I was raised Jewish, my upbringing didn't include any formal religious education or training.