--IF YOU WANT TO JOIN ME, I’LL BE DANCING IN THE DARK

…First things first--I’m going to say all the words inside my head.

  

…My dad would have been 81 years old this month.  I hope he’s resting comfortably, but knowing him, he’s probably out in the yard fixing God’s broke down trucks.

…After my dad died there was an enormous mess to clean up.  Dad was a hoarder, big time.  Some of the things he collected were all those Nordstrom gift cards I’d sent him over the years, for Christmas or on his birthday.  I wish he would have used them.  I wish he would have splurged and got himself something nice.

…Bit by bit, snip by snip, I’m cutting through the cathartic jugular.  But it’s my own stuff, so it’s okay.  

…I like the feel of the wind—in my hair, on my face.  It’s kind of sensuous.   I even like the kind of rough wind that throws me off balance.  It reminds me that I'm still alive. 

…Second thing second--I keep on running fast just to catch up to myself.

…Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

…Don’t throw my name around like that.  You could get into some kind of trouble.

…Kids were laughing in my classes while I was scheming for the masses.

…What I’ve come to realize is you have to let that shit go.  That tension in your shoulders. 

…Someone’s been hammering next door all day and Pete the eagle just flew by, but the rain still won’t give up.  Seems like everyone’s got a mission before the weekend.

…Everyone is their own hurricane, their own silent movie.  We're all filling out our diaries, sentence by sentence.

…The other night someone told me to never underestimate the power of loneliness.  They didn’t know me very well.

…Saying you’re happy out loud makes it more real.  Here, I’ll try it.  “...I’m happy…”  Can you hear me?

…Sometimes happiness feels superstitious.

…Everybody wants to be wanted but not everybody wants to be needed.  That can be a huge difference.

…My body is always a little sore, as if it’s yearning for something, as if it’s missing its other half.

…What we worship and bury is a sweet and sour soup, tangy and unfinished.

…There’s never a good time to admit this, but sometimes there’s just no explosiveness to my game, no rhythm and blues.

…I’ve been a saint.  I’ve been the truth.  I’ve been the lie.

…It’s not always wise to assess your damage.  Sometimes it’s best to just be a duck, let that water roll right off.

…You’re the little girl who made my life somersault.

…Actually, I love the girl that loves the dog.

…Every year, on my saddest day, I look to the sky to make sure the sun’s still there.

…Can I be really honest?  You take my words away.

…Last things last—today is going to be a day unlike any other day.

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--YOU WERE THE HIGHLIGHT OF OUR DAY

…I woke up feeling hopeful this morning.  There’s probably nothing better than that.  Well, maybe waking up feeling grateful.

 …In a darkened place I watched my soul replace itself with something new and fresh and glistening.

…Rain or no rain, everyday also throws up a rainbow and I’m not going to waste a bit of the beauty of this.

…Catch me laughing.  Catch me drinking past dawn.  Catch me singing.  Catch me beaming, open-armed.

…The thing about self-talk is, when you’re thinking about it, you’re self-talking, so best be careful what you’re thinking.

…Don’t you just love honeybees?  No?  I do.  A honeybee’s wing can beat 11,4000 times per minute.  But they also have five eyes, and some with hair on them (really).

…No lack of wouldn’t could be my undoing.

…Something almost as surprising is The Philippines having over 7,100 islands.  It would be quite a job naming them all.  I wonder whose responsibility that was.

…I wanted The Patriots to win the Super Bowl because I like Tom Brady (I know a lot of people hate him as much as I love him.  Please don’t shoot me.)  I was glad the Eagles won, though.  They city needed it as much as the team.  What was shocking was fan reaction the day after.  Someone actually said this,“Losing a Super Bowl is worse than losing your parents.”  Pretty unbelievable, right?

…“We think too much and feel too little."

"A day without laughter is a day wasted."

"Nothing is permanent in this wicked world—not even our troubles.”  Charlie Chaplin said all that.  Pretty bright guy, old Charlie.  Not only funny, but sage, too.

…A group of otters is called a romp.  Now isn’t that just so cute?  A few years back I saw three otters frolicking on the dock, sort or rolling around and wrestling like puppies.  They were definitely romping.  It was one of the cutest things I’ve seen.

…Hummingbirds can be seen differently depending on how they hover and the light they allow you to see, and in that way, I am very much like a hummingbird.

…Often, the most important moments are the most mundane ones enacted in the right places, then narrated without expectation.

…When I was so busy, wrapped up in the corporate world, I thought the way to make up for lost time with my kids was to take them to some huge event—The Grammys, Britney Spears, etc.  After I left that world for an opposite world I realized the best moments, the most important moments, happen on a fifteen-minute car ride to the bus stop when it’s just you and your child talking about whatever comes to mind.

…I’m trying to write with the headlights on.  So maybe I don’t know exactly where I’m going, but at least I can see in front of me, foot by foot, yard by yard, mile by mile.

--BABY YOU’RE A FIREWORK

…You’re worth it.  Until you understand that this is all that matters, it will always be too much.

…Sometimes I think it’s the bullfrogs out in the marsh making all that racket, when it’s really just the squeeze toys in my head.

…For a second there, I thought something bad might happen, but then I remembered that 90 percent of what we worry about never comes to fruition.  I also remembered that it’s best not to look down when you’re up high in a tall building. 

…I think I would start to lose my grip on reality if I didn’t have people I loved and needed on hand, people who loved and needed me right back.

…I’ll stand by you, won’t let nobody hurt you.—That’s a simply lyric, but pretty powerful, if you think about it.

…But it’s not that simple.  I mean what is?  What’s worth something, really worth something, that is just so easy to get?

…It’s almost strange, what you can see so clearly once you detach from a situation. 

…Lately I have been having the types of exchanges that don’t involve me, but are still filled with lots of meaningful eye contact.

…Sometimes I watch the moon (I know, I know, the damn moon again…) the way some people are mesmerized by a lava lamp.

…I’m sorry, but I can still be half lonely, yet half alive, and those can both happen when I’m in a crowded room.

…I’ve been really lethargic lately.  But don’t worry, it’s not your fault.

…Do you want to talk about it?

…When the crowds push against you inelegantly, it’s best not to push back.  It’s best to let them push and push and push until they’re tuckered out.

…After all these years I’m still having epiphanies about myself.  I’ll take that as a good sign.  The other option would just be playing into one of the latest epiphany I’ve had.

…Often the best thing to do when everything seems jagged or muddy is to communicate, and be gentle.

…Not to be political, but why do Republicans think they have the corner on God?  Seems to me there’s plenty of God to go around.

…I prefer my heroes flawed.

…Let’s celebrate the first time you cried naked in someone’s bed.  Let’s honor that with a thin, honest smile.

…Some people like the act of cleaning up small, organized messes of planned mistakes.  Me, I’d rather not make them, but probably most of us feel this way.

…Forget logic.  Logic doesn’t know what you want.

…Hey, what do you have to hide?

…You can tell a lot about a family from the photos on their mantle.  You can tell a lot from the ornaments on a family’s tree.

…I’m just thinking out loud.

…Yet I’m still here.

…And we’re going to be fine, so the Haters can go ahead and hate someplace else.