“For me, the healing process starts with graciousness and forgiveness.” — India Arie Quote

For me, the healing process starts with graciousness and forgiveness.

It's important to have a place where you can recharge. Everybody's is different, but I do think it should entail quiet because it needs to be where you hear your spirit most clearly. For me, that's the prayer room in my apartment. And since my home is 700 square feet, I mean the coat closet near the front door.

Nobody looked like me when I was growing up. None of the kids were as big as me, or as serious as me, or listened to the same music.

With 'Acoustic Soul,' I saw my music as sparse. But I didn't do that because I was making a commitment to be commercial. That's what made 'Acoustic Soul' so difficult to produce. It took 2 1/2 years because I couldn't figure out what I wanted and still be commercial.

I am 100% in the camp that says forgiveness is mostly about the forgiver.

When people do, or say, things we don't believe in, forgiveness can feel disgusting. But when you try to think of someone who isn't worthy of it, it's hard to find an example.

When you make a mistake and the devil comes and tells you 'You're no good,' you don't have to take on the guilt and condemnation he wants to put on you. No! You can immediately confess your mistake to God, thank Him for forgiving you and cleansing you with the blood of Jesus, and move forward in the victory of His grace and forgiveness.

No poem in the world could do my mom justice. Despite circumstance and adversity, she had an unwavering love for her kids and a faith-based, boundless capacity for forgiveness.