I just realized one day that I was so unhappy. And not only that, but I didn't even like the person that I was. I didn't even know who I was. And so 'Shatter Me' is about first discovering what was under the shell and then learning to love that person that was under it. And then not being afraid to break free.

As a dancing violinist, there have been a couple of moments where I'm like, 'Oops! This is an expensive mistake!'

I have been so incredibly blessed, and I just feel like my calling is to be a missionary and share the gospel... The Lord's given me a platform to stand on and an audience that is listening. I feel like it's so important to share what makes me happy.

YouTube - holy cow! - I can do my career at my own pace. I didn't have anybody to tell me I wasn't ready, and I learned how to self-market and how to strategize. 'Spontaneous Me' had already been up on iTunes, but besides my mom and grandma, no one bought it. Once it was up on YouTube, it went crazy.

If you took away all pain, if everyone lived forever, everything would be bland, flat and boring; there would be no reason for art, music, newspapers, love because we would all be in a mono state of happiness.

I always appreciated the magnitude of my mother's imagination. She always saw beauty in what was broken, and she'd preserve it.

I think writing and reading are completely synergistic; not necessarily in that one has to be a good reader to be a good writer or vice versa, but that they so inform each other.

All art began as sacred art, you know? I mean, all painting began as religious painting. All writing began as religious writing.