Stacey L

“She closes her eyes. He probably won’t come back, she thinks. Or he will, differently. What they have now they can never have back again. But for her the pain of loneliness will be nothing to the pain that she used to feel, of being unworthy. He brought her goodness like a gift and now it belongs to her. Meanwhile his life opens out before him in all directions at once. They’ve done a lot of good for each other. Really, she thinks, really. People can really change one another.
You should go, she says. I’ll always be here. You know that.”
― Sally Rooney, Normal People

“Each of you had left us in your own way. I predicted Layla would turn even more to gardening to pass the time. But instead she made tea and sat at the kitchen table with the mug before her looking out at the backyard, her hands wrapped around the mug for warmth, the steam rising. I would walk away and not long after would hear the splash of the entire mug in the sink.”
― Fatima Farheen Mirza

“Bullies were scared people hiding inside scary people.”
― Michelle Obama, Becoming

“But part of getting to know yourself is to unknow yourself—to let go of the limiting stories you’ve told yourself about who you are so that you aren’t trapped by them, so you can live your life and not the story you’ve been telling yourself about your life.”
― Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed