Emily

“The birds are like tourists. They screech and make a mess, but you’re not allowed to shoot them…”
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends

“Oh, those are all our very best moments, when we’re wasting our lives. It’s an act of magnificent rebellion to do meaningless things, to waste time, to swim and drink soda and sleep late. To be silly and frivolous, to laugh at stupid little jokes and tell stupid little stories. Or to paint big paintings, the biggest you can manage, and to try to learn to whisper in color. To look for a way to show other people: this was me, these were my humans, these were our farts. These were our bodies, and they were small, far too small, because they couldn’t contain all our love.
That’s all of life. All we can hope for. You mustn’t think about the fact that it might end, because then you live like a coward, you never love too much or sing too loudly. You have to take it for granted, the artist thinks, the whole thing: sunrises and slow Sunday mornings and water balloons and another person’s breath against your neck. That’s the only courageous thing a person can do.”
― Fredrik Backman, My Friends

“When I decided to relocate and settle in one place, I didn’t even have to think about where to go. I’m the spinning needle of a compass and you’ve always been my true north, Parker.”
― Falon Ballard, Just My Type

“We learn to grab joy and delight when we can. We learn that we don't control plotlines, even though we forget sometimes. We learn that every good thing takes time and work and patience. We learn to be suspicious of overnight success or magic solutions. We learn to ask for help, to ask for space, to ask for second chances. We learn how tough we are, and how beloved. We learn to keep going, because all the times we thought we couldn't take one more step, we did .What's the option? We kept going then, and we can keep going now. It isn't pretty, but if I've learned anything, it's that there's a lot more to life than pretty.”
― Shauna Niequist, I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet: Discovering New Ways of Living When the Old Ways Stop Working