Quotes About Growth

She'd learned a long time ago to look ahead, not back. What's done is done. Make the best of it and move on.

I think the child I was until 12 was so much more interesting than the teenager I became. As a teenager, you get wrapped up in your friends and sexual stuff, and the imaginative life you had, it just goes. And mine was so rich and fun. Fortunately, I was able to tap back into that later on [through my books] to save my life.

She said, "I must—I must—I must increase my bust." She said it over and over. We copied her movements and chanted with her. "We must—we must—we must increase our bust!

forever. Fifteen years ago she'd woven ribbons through

Ralph arrived first. He's really fat. And he isn't even four years old. He doesn't say much either. He grunts and grabs a lot, though. Usually his mouth is stuffed full of something.

Then again, maybe I won't.

I don't know where I stand in the world. I don't know who I am. That's why I read. To find myself. - Elizabeth, Age 13

PART ONE Dancing Queen 1977–1980

But you can't go back. Not ever. You have to pick up the pieces and keep moving ahead.

And then it's possible I won't find out after all. Because some changes happen deep down inside of you. And the truth is, only you know about them. Maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.

Caitlin isn't someone to get over. She's someone to come to terms with, the way you have to come to terms with your parents, your siblings. You can't deny they ever happened. You can't deny you ever loved them, love them still, even if loving them causes you pain.

I look in the mirror through the eyes of the child that was me.

The trick is to metabolize pain as energy. Learn, when hit by loss, to ask the right question: What next? instead of Why me?

Wherever you are is always the right place. There is never a need to fix anything, to hitch up the bootstraps of the soul and start at some higher place. Start right where you are.

I ask to be made beautiful like the trees are beautiful, each growing according to a unique plan. Lop off a limb and and the tree will accommodate it's loss, still growing and still beautiful. It is my hope to be able to flourish in a similar fashion, taking on the shape and dimensions that is intended for me.

Making art has taught me that the tiniest smidgen of progress is something to be cherished.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage. ANAÏS NIN

Judging your early artistic efforts is artist abuse.

Our tears prepare the ground for our future growth. Without this creative moistening, we may remain barren. We must allow the bolt of pain to strike us. Remember, this is useful pain; lightning illuminates.

A career must be husbanded. Care must be taken. Everyday must bring some small bit of progress. How would an artist with any self-worth act? Act that way.

It is impossible to get better and look good at the same time.

So much of an artist's career hinges on the sense that we are going somewhere, that we are not just trapped by the four walls of wherever we are. For creative sanity, I must believe that if I just do the next right thing, a path will unfold for me.

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. JOSEPH CHILTON PEARCE

There is no such thing as being done with an artistic life. Frustrations and rewards exist at all levels on the path.