Dusti Bowling > Quotes

“I felt like I was shining, and this time I thought maybe it wasn’t just the moon. Maybe the light was in me.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“I think Connor would be the last person to label you like that. You shouldn't get so offended if someone calls you disabled, Aven. You DO have extra challenges that others don't have. It DOES take you longer to do most tasks. Your movements ARE limited. There's a big difference between saying you're disabled and saying you're incapable.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“all, there was a lot I needed to do with my life. I had places to see, things to try, new friends to meet. And light to shine.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Sometimes the friends you make aren’t the ones you expected. And sometimes the place you find yourself in isn’t the place you were hoping for. And sometimes, if you keep an open mind, you’ll find they’re so much better than what you imagined.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“The only person I know who can pick their nose with their toes is Aven. She sure is a special little girl.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“I am an entirely insignificant event in the life of this cactus.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“I’m sure most people who see me feel sorry for me at first. I think their first thought is probably something about how terrible it must be to not have arms. Maybe they imagine me helplessly being carried around by my mom everywhere in a giant baby backpack and my poor parents having to brush my teeth and feed me through a tube and change my diapers and whatever. What a lot of people don’t realize, though, is there are a lot of fantastic things about not having arms.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Don’t ever let anyone make you think you’re not good enough or smart enough or talented enough or brave enough. I let people make me feel that way. They hurt me. They wounded me. On the outside. On the inside. I carried that hurt with me my whole life. I never had anyone around to tell me that even my insignificant life was worth something. But you have so many people who love you and believe in you. And you are worth more than you know. Don’t let any one person take that away.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Let’s live like we mean it
Because today is the youngest we’ll ever be
For the rest of our lives.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“we all face choices in life. Some are small,insignificant choices like what to wear to the prom or what to say to your crush when you see him walking down the hall. Those choices may or may not have long-term effects on our lives. You never know. Then there are choices that are so huge, so important,you know you are altering the path of your life as you make them.”
― Dusti Bowling, The Day We Met

“But as you heal and grow, something beautiful and layered and solid and lasting is formed.”
― Dusti Bowling, The Canyon's Edge

“I’ve thought about it a lot, and I came up with a list of twenty supplies you need to survive middle school when you don’t have arms. So here it is: 1. Good shoes. Ease of removal is of utmost importance here. Ease of reapplication—equally important. 2. Sense of humor. I’m being very serious here—you’ve got to have one. Seriously. 3. A sizeable daily breakfast. You never know when you might chicken out in the lunchroom. Get your daily fuel requirement early in the day. 4. Easy-to-eat bagged lunches. Do you really want to carry that giant tray through the cafeteria? And forget about bringing stuff like chili and clam chowder for lunch. Really. Forget. That. 5. An easy-to-carry/open/close/get-things-out-of book bag. 6. Lots of cute shirts. This really applies to both people with and without arms. And when you’re ready—tank tops. 7. Bully spray. Similar to bear spray, only better. Would be great to have for those nasty little comments. I’m totally inventing this. 8. Thick skin. More like armor. Armor skin.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Mom likes to take me grocery shopping with her. She says it’s because I need to learn how to grocery shop on my own, but I really think it’s because she likes having a child slave to command.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“An e-reader is super helpful. And no more toe paper cuts. 10. Some kind of sport or recreational activity—soccer, dance, swimming, professional hopscotch. You can do it! I’m trying out my motivational speaking skills here. 11. Pants that button easily. Trust me, when nature calls at school, you’ll be grateful you listened. 12. Your handy-dandy hook. From buttoning pants to lifting a dollar out of your pocket, a good hook is essential. 13. A wide variety of nail polishes. Boys probably don’t care much about this, but when people are staring at our feet as much as they do, we want to look our best. Am I right, ladies, or am I right? 14. Nunchuks. At least until bully spray becomes available. 15. An open heart and eyes. You think you’re the only one out there who feels different? What about that kid sitting alone in the library or out on the sidewalk? 16. Awesome parents. This is a must. 17. Friends who listen.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“No one lights a lamp and hides it under a basket. They put it on a table so it can shine for all to see.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“I’ve had this longstanding rule of not eating private parts, and it’s served me well so far.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Josephine was in the leisure room as usual, reading some terrible book. As usual. This week's selection had a pirate with a hairy chest on the cover.
I sat down next to her on the couch. "You should be embarrassed to read those books in public," I said.
She set it down on the table next to her. "Why should I be? They have them all here in the library. Obvious, they intend for someone to read them."
"Don't they have any, like, quality reading material here?"
"This is quality," Josephine insisted.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Let's live like we mean it
Because today is the youngest we'll ever be
For the rest of our lives.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“insignificant event in the life of this cactus.”
― Dusti Bowling, Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Henry. Aven was my mother. Joe is my grandmother. Remember? Joe is at the retirement center with Milford the stalker.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Acceptance of self, in order to fully heal, is necessary.”
― Dusti Bowling, The Canyon's Edge

“ONCE, WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN YEARS old, my parents moved me from the land of flat, grassy prairies and towering, angry tornadoes and life-giving cool country air to the mysterious land of suffocating dust and prickly cactus and life-sucking desert heat to lord over a park of western-themed amusements that bring delight to many young children and a handful of immature grown-ups. In other words, we moved from Kansas to Arizona to run a theme park, but it sounds much more exciting when I say it the other way, and I want you to think this is going to be an exciting story. What I mean is, it’s absolutely going to be an exciting story. Prepare yourselves accordingly.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Around midnight, I got up from my bed and sat at my computer. I typed out a new blog post. I guess I’ve been sort of lucky in my life. Most of the people I’ve known have been pretty nice. Even when they haven’t known how to react to me or they’ve said something stupid or they’ve given me one of the looks, at least it wasn’t out of meanness. Maybe fear. Maybe ignorance. But not usually meanness. Sure, people have said mean things. People have made fun of me. People have been rude to me. But I never knew the degree to which people could be mean. And it turns out people can be meaner than I ever imagined. So I guess I’ve been lucky that I made it all the way to fourteen without having to come face to face with this unbearable level of meanness. And I don’t know what to do with this knowledge right now. I’ve always liked to believe the best in people—that people can change. That there’s good in everyone—or at least more good than bad in everyone. But I know now that I was wrong. It sucks to be wrong. And I don’t ever want to be wrong about that again. Then I deleted it.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Out of the past and into the future.”
― Dusti Bowling, The Canyon's Edge

“The doctor shined a light in my eyes, asked me to follow his finger, moved my head around to check my neck, asked me a bunch of questions about how vomity I felt, and then determined that yes, I did have a concussion. But I wasn’t dead. So I wasn’t all that concerned.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“It doesn’t mean I don’t care.
If you only knew.
It’s because I care so much
That I get mad at you.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you’re not enough.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“She took a deep breath. “Wherever I am, I find him sitting not far away, starin’ at me like that with those beady eyes. Stalker eyes!” she cried out again. “Plus, he eats the chess pieces.” I gawked at him. “What?” I watched as he literally picked up a piece from the chessboard and put it in his mouth.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“Just then a lady with a poufy blonde wig and a disheveled polka-dot blouse walked up to us. “Have you seen my teeth?” she asked. “I think I left them on the side table here.” My mouth dropped open, but Josephine pointed at the woman in the maroon dress who was now sitting in a chair watching the television, which wasn’t on. “I think Betty over there has them.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus

“I think there comes a point when your sadness gets too great that you can no longer feel anything at all. You just become numb. Because in that moment, I couldn’t possibly grieve for Henry and Spaghetti and my friendship with Zion and everything else going wrong in my life at the same time. I think I’d finally run out of tears. And I didn’t even know that was possible.”
― Dusti Bowling, Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus