I can count all the ways in which being a mother has enriched my understanding of the world of character my sense of the future and my attachment to it. I can't imagine what kind of writer I'd be if I didn't have my kids.
It requires greater courage to preserve inner freedom to move on in one's inward journey into new realms than to stand defiantly for outer freedom. It is often easier to play the martyr as it is to be rash in battle.