This collection was born in 2007 on my first son’s nursery school playground. Another mom and I sat at a kid-size picnic table, light tears in both our eyes as we talked through hard things.

My friend tore a corner off an envelope from her purse and wrote these words: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” She pushed that tattered bit of paper across wooden planks into my hand. It was her way of telling me to breathe deeply and do what I needed to do to take care of myself.

While that quote originated from author Anais Nin, its impact at that moment was driven as much by the person who gave it to me, and the context of life at that moment, as it was by the words themselves.

From that day on, when someone said something powerful to me at a pivotal personal time, I asked them to find the closest thing to write on, pen their words, and let me keep them. The penny-drop moments gifted to me by friends, mentors, and even an Uber driver whose name I’ll never know have guided some of my hardest choices in life.

Their words reflect ideas and ideals I hold dear to this day.