Mary’s way was the way of the heart. She exemplified devotion.

It is not always so risky to make art. You don’t have to dedicate the whole of your life to Shakti’s impulse to create. Beauty blooms in tight spaces. You are not too busy or too poor or too independent to learn to throw earthenware pots or play the drums. When you

It embarrasses me to admit this, and yet it would be disingenuous to pretend that just because I am writing this book on feminine wisdom, I am wise about all the ways I may have internalized five thousand years of values that benefited men over women.

When I have some new accomplishment he celebrates me, and when I am disappointed he comforts me, and when I am sick he tends me. But he does not overdo the praising or the commiserating or the nursing. His care is grounded in dignity—both his own and mine.

Read, write poetry, color in a coloring book, take a hike, make a beautiful meal and feed your loved ones—anything that reconnects you with your soul. Keep a journal of your experiences so that you can reflect back to yourself the gifts that arise when you open the door to deep rest and loving attention to the moment. (If you choose to write, see

She has never asked much of you in return. Up until now, your gratitude has been enough. Your delight has been her reward. Up until now, she has not needed you as you have needed her. But that is shifting. You have grown up, and your Mother the Earth is in peril. She cannot hide her distress from you, and you would not want her to. You are mature

“My deepest desire is . . .” Let whatever arises in your mind and heart spill onto the page (or screen) as you respond to it. Allow yourself to be surprised—maybe even shocked—by what comes up. Your desires could relate to your sexual appetites or emotional needs. They could be about how you want to embody yourself—or the Divine. Don’t hold back.

Grief is an individual journey, and there are no rules to follow nor laws you can break. It takes as long as it takes (forever, in my case, and maybe in yours, too), so there’s no point in judging yourself or others for not “getting over it” swiftly enough.

Whenever my jeans become a little tight, my self-worth begins to deflate.