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Most of your 20s will be an inconceivable mess. Where you call home will change as often as the title on your 3x5 business card does. The most unswerving relationship you'll have will be with your email inbox and the most reliable love letters you'll receive will come monthly from credit card companies, telling you how happy they are to have you in their lives before demanding that you fork over your hard-earned cash. You'll find yourself going on as many first dates as job interviews. They'll start to feel exactly the same. You'll master your "About Me" speech and soon realize that the only way to kick the nervous jitters over whether or not you'll ever hear from them again is to frolic around your apartment like a total distraught maniac. In your 20s, being single will make you feel like a lightweight. There's only so many times someone can ask about your dating life (or lack thereof) before you burst out a monologue about how there i...

The Return An Idea ran about the world screaming with the pain of the mind until it met a child who stopped it with a word. The Idea leaned over those newborn eyes and dreamed of the nature of things: the nature of memory and the nature of love; and forgave itself and all men. Quieted in a sea of sleeping the Idea began its long return – renewed by the child’s sea-colored eyes remembered the flesh, smiled and said: I see birds, spring and the birthplace unknown by the stable stone. I know light and I know motion and I remember I am not alone. The Idea voyaged nearer my breathing, saying Come balance come into the love of these faces and forces find us our equilibrium. And the child stirred, asking his questions. The Idea grew more fleshly and spoke: Beaten down I was Down I knew very long Newborn I begin. And the child went on asking his questions. The Idea journeying into my body returned, and I knew the nature of One, and could forget One, and turn to the child, and whole could t...

People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave. A soul mate’s purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life…

Here's the thing, I love you. I do. I love how you don't even have to open your eyes to roll over in bed and open the blanket to that kid who has bad dreams. I love how you worry about kindergarten homework and teach yourself calculus all over again to keep up with your teen. I love how you swing babies up onto hips and prop them on checkout counters or grocery carts or changing tables in desperately-too-small bathroom stalls. I love how you balance your bags and that car seat carrier, the extra bottle, someone's baseball helmet, the picnic blanket and still remember to pack the one lovey no one can live without. I love how you see magic in passing fire trucks and roll down the windows so everyone can wave at the train crossing. I love how planning a first visit from the tooth fairy keeps you up at night and involves scraping glitter off old Christmas ornaments, or how by tooth number 45 you still manage to finagle some mystery into the quarter that...

Dear Little One As I write this, I'm sitting in the makeup aisle of our local Target store. A friend recently texted me from a different makeup aisle and told me it felt like one of the most oppressive places in the world. I wanted to find out what he meant. And now that I'm sitting here, I'm beginning to agree with him. Words have power, and the words on display in this aisle have a deep power. Words and phrases like: Affordably gorgeous, Infallible, Flawless finish, Brilliant strength, Liquid power, Go nude, Age-defying, Instant age rewind, Choose your dream, Nearly naked, and Natural beauty. When you have a daughter, you start to realize she's just as strong as everyone else in the house -- a force to be reckoned with, a soul on fire with the same life and gifts and passions as any man. But sitting in this store aisle, you also begin to realize most people won't see her that way. They'll see her as a pretty face and a body to enjoy....