My mind perched on top of my head like a spider monkey and thought of more things that could go wrong at dinner, and whose fault those things would be. I tried to drop my attention from my head to my heart, which is actually an ascension of sorts. … Still, my mind chattered on, as if the spider monkey had taken acid. My mind is my main problem almost all the time. I wish I could leave it in the fridge when I go out, but it likes to come with me. I have tried to get it to take up a nice hobby, like macramé, but it prefers to think about things, and jot down what annoys it.

- Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

I’m not certain which religion, if any, author Anne Lamott is part of, but I do know that she’s pretty good at self-examination. My first introduction to her was when she was the “novelist in residence” at the KQED radio show “West Coast Weekend,” in San Francisco, when I was in my late teens.

A friend of mine who is currently in Seattle shared the passage I’ve quoted, via LiveJournal, and I thought, “Hmm. This would be an interesting discussion opener.”

You are all invited, then, to respond, rebut, expand, etc.