“When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind.”

“Sometimes you wonder, I mean really wonder. I know we make our own reality, and we always have a choice, but how much is preordained? Is there always a fork in the road, and are there two preordained paths that are equally preordained? There could be hundreds of paths where one could go this way or that way — there’s a chance, and it’s very strange sometimes.”

“…Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I don’t know what will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. We’re more popular than Jesus now. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.”

“The thing the sixties did was to show us the possibilities and the responsibility that we all had. It wasn’t the answer. It just gave us a glimpse of the possibility.”

“You know the way people begin to look like their dogs? Well, we’re beginning to look like each other.”

“One thing I can tell you is you have to be free. Come together, right now, over me.”

“Vulnerability is about showing up and being seen. It’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think.”

“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.”

“Shame corrodes the very part of us that believes we are capable of change.”

“I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our as*es kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time.”

“Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others.”

“What’s the greater risk? Letting go of what people think – or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?”

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.”

“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”

“I only share when I have no unmet needs that I’m trying to fill. I firmly believe that being vulnerable with a larger audience is only a good idea if the healing is tied to the sharing, not to the expectations I might have for the response I get.”

“Shame works like the zoom lens on a camera. When we are feeling shame, the camera is zoomed in tight and all we see is our flawed selves, alone and struggling.”

“We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection.”

“The universe is not short on wake-up calls. We’re just quick to hit the snooze button.”

“Shame derives its power from being unspeakable.”

“Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”

“Even to me the issue of “stay small, sweet, quiet, and modest” sounds like an outdated problem, but the truth is that women still run into those demands whenever we find and use our voices.”

“If you own this story you get to write the ending.”

“Until we can receive with an open heart, we’re never really giving with an open heart. When we attach judgment to receiving help, we knowingly or unknowingly attach judgment to giving help.”

“Who we are and how we engage with the world are much stronger predictors of how our children will do than what we know about parenting.”