A strangely serious child, I decided about age 5 that my life would be a success if I were to do well at school, become a lawyer, live in a beautiful house and have a family by age 30. What can I say except type-A personality and perfectionism came to the fore early on? (I know there are at minimum 6 others out there putting up their hands to identify...)

By the time I got to Law School there was an *inkling* (tsunami of suppressed feeling) that maybe that life wasn’t meant for me, or me for it. It wasn’t for another 10 years that I finally decided to stop banging my head against the proverbial brick wall and slow down. 

Things that have remained constant since even before the age of 5 a love of words, the magic, meaning they can create and worlds they can transport you to; an abiding longing to create community, a deep appreciation of beautiful landscapes, the outdoors and of the monumental importance of movement for healthy bodies; and an inexplicable obsession with Belinda Carlisle.