It is a simple pass-fail test. It is the only test. When the chips are down, when the sky has fallen, when you sit in ashes, when the concrete walls close, when you flail without hope of rescue, Can you be human? And by human, I mean fully human. I mean thinking. I mean feeling. Open and responsive. Honest and articulate. Grounded in your body. Integrated into your environment. A person among persons. I have watched people all my life fail this test. It has ceased to be amazi

Even before I confronted death at age 15, I had tastes, desires, and a temperament that did not fit. I danced, and sang, and immersed...