Lee-Ann

“We are undone by the specificity of our dreams. Reality can never live up to the shining edifices we forge inside our fantasies: Life, in all its confusing complexity, is destined to be a disappointment in comparison. The lottery winner discovers that the riches don’t equal happiness; the longed-for baby is colicky and sour; losing fifty pounds still doesn’t bring you love; winning the election doesn’t trigger societal change. Life is a constant emotional calibration, then: the tiny adjustments we make every day as we come up against our discontents. We ride this seesaw, between hope and disenchantment, seeking some sort of equilibrium.”
― Janelle Brown, What Kind of Paradise

“Sometimes love manifests itself as a kind of amazed awe, as potent a feeling as any other form of connection: the shock of knowing that you are desired just as you are, no matter how broken you might feel.”
― Janelle Brown, What Kind of Paradise

“You will be so many people in your lifetime that you’ll look back one day and not even recognise some of the people you have been.”
― Claire Lynch, A Family Matter

“I like to think that living this way, in the shadow of an active volcano, serves as a daily reminder of the preciousness of my days. One day I'll be gone. We all will. Why worry about that? In the meantime, let's make sure the fish is cooked just right, and that the wine is French.”
― Joyce Maynard, The Bird Hotel