“When story and behavior are consistent, we relax; when story and behavior are inconsistent, we get tense. We have a deep psychological need for our stories and behaviors to be consistent. We need to be able to trust the story, because it's the lens through which we see reality. We will go to great lengths in the attempt to make a story that explains an action and supports or restores consistency. If we cannot make story and action fit, we either have to make a new story or change the action. ... [But] The drive for consistency and the ability to redefine abhorrent action so it fits the story are very complex issues. We have a huge ability to continue believing stories we are told are true in order to stay comfortable with actions we don't want to change, or don't feel capable of changing.”

“When story and behavior are consistent, we relax; when story and behavior are inconsistent, we get tense. We have a deep psychological need for our stories and behaviors to be consistent. We need to be able to trust the story, because it's the lens through which we see reality. We will go to great lengths in the attempt to make a story that explains an action and supports or restores consistency. If we cannot make story and action fit, we either have to make a new story or change the action. ... [But] The drive for consistency and the ability to redefine abhorrent action so it fits the story are very complex issues. We have a huge ability to continue believing stories we are told are true in order to stay comfortable with actions we don't want to change, or don't feel capable of changing.”

“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.”

“Journal writing is a voyage to the interior.”

“With compassion we see benevolently our own human condition and the condition of our fellow beings. We drop prejudice. We withhold judgment.”

“How we remember what we remember and why we remember form the most personal map of our individuality.”

“Forgiveness is the act of admitting we are like other people.”

“Spiritual love is a position of standing with one hand extended into the universe and one hand extended into the world letting ourselves be a conduit for passing energy.”

“When you're stuck in a spiral to change all aspects of the spin you need only to change one thing.”

“Change is the constant the signal for rebirth the egg of the phoenix.”

“The ordinary stories of our ordinary lives have extraordinary gifts coded within them. . .”

“Only the broken heart has the ghost of a chance to grieve, to forgive, to long, to transform." Christina Baldwin, author of Life's Companion, Journal Writing as a Spiritual Practice, 1990. Used with author's permission”