I am jealous of those who think more deeply, who write better, who draw better, who ski better, who look better, who live better, who love better tha… - Sylvia Plath

There ought, I thought, to be a ritual for being born twice - patched, retreaded and approved for the road.

Why the hell are we conditioned into the smooth strawberry-and-cream Mother-Goose-world, Alice-in-Wonderland fable, only to be broken on the wheel as we grow older and become aware of ourselves as individuals with a dull responsibility in life?

I must learn more about these people — try to understand them, put myself in their place. No, instead I am so busy keeping my head above water that I scarcely know who I am, much less who anyone else is.