"Don't spoil your dinner," said every American mother since the pilgrim immigrants first set their tables. Maybe that's naive, but I doubt it's said in places where scraps of food promise just a little more life.

My story is something like those miracle transformations. I did wake up one day—after being left by my fiancé, my life fallen apart. A psychic change helped reorient my life. I took control by letting go of control. Certain truths about the human condition finally gave me the life I always desired. The kind that was always out of reach.