There are those studies whose details come out periodically discussing how powerful suggestions can be. When teachers tell their perfectly average students how smart they are, the students do better. When mediocre video gamers are told of their superior skill their performance improves. And so on.

When I need to pack a lot into a small space, I think of my mother, the worlds greatest packer.

When I lose something important, I think of my sister, Emma. She WILL find it.

When I need to come up with a name for something I channel my twin sister Chelsea and my good friend Natalie P. Both namers extraordinaries.

When I want to think about art for the creation of it, I think of my brother Sam.

And when I feel like conforming to the system, I think of Patrick and realize it must be burned down and then rebuilt from the ground up.

When I want to remember how to laugh uncontrollably at anything, I think of Molly and her singular laugh.

(And when I can't think of anything, anything at all, I think to breathe with my stomach like meditation gurus the world over.)

And finally I try to remember not to seek inspiration, but to wait for it, because its all around me, like a million dots of oxygen.