my favorite.

I have a friend named Toni. I've never met her, but I know her. I know her through her writing. And I'm on a first-name basis with her. {As I am with Sylvia, Aldous, Zora, Edgar, William . . .} Well, she was on Oprah last week, and I almost fell off the couch when Oprah introduced her, I was so excited. And I may or may not have squealed like a twelve-year-old fan girl at a Justin Bieber concert, thrown my hands in the air, and almost cried. She's a good friend. Toni has meant the world to me since the first time I read Beloved waaaay back in the twelfth grade. She is the epitome of all things I consider wise. She always says the most thought-provoking things, and they always make perfect sense. I guess that's what comes with being eighty years old and a Nobel Prize winner. The more you think about what she says, the more you realize how wise, and how right she is. Also, she has that fantastic story-teller voice. I could listen to her talk all day long. The latest and greatest words of wisdom from her that I've acquired and implemented into my own personal beliefs is something she said while telling a story about her son.

"Do you light up when a child enters the room?"

Think about that for a minute. She genius, right? Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this woman is brilliant. She continued to talk about the importance of showing people (especially children) how we feel about them, instead of simply telling them. This.is.so.important. You can tell someone something, but until you show them, there might be doubts about what you say.

Toni continued to talk about the importance of finding something to do that is purely for yourself and for your own enjoyment. Find that space that is sacred, she said, and only for you, where you can escape and completely be yourself. For her, she said, it's writing. But it could by anything you enjoy doing. Anything at all. I dare you to find that space if you haven't already. I believe it is essential to our survival as women. And please read Toni's books if you haven't. They are incredible.