Kristel

“I ALWAYS ASK Stella and Nolan, “Do I seem like a stressed-out mom or a happy mom?” And they say, “You seem happy.”
― Molly Shannon, Hello, Molly!: A Memoir

“You do something.… You make people happy.” Josephine is resolute in her response: “I’ve never tried to make a business of making people happy. I’ve always tried to touch the sensibility of each human being. And I’ve always tried to find their good point because I believe that every human being on this earth has something good in them.… And I think that human beings, in general, if they have the opportunity or possibility, they can be extremely good.” I find solace in her words, reminded of the power of empathy and compassion in storytelling. There is a lot more I could share about her, but I’ll save that for another chapter! I fully agree with Josephine. At the same time, I am also aware that it’s not my sole duty on this earth to make every single person around me process their own feelings through the work I’ve created. I mean, I should say that I’m aware and learning how to consistently put that into practice. It’s incredibly impossible and exhausting, and now I have a little boy who’s teething and taking tiny steps. But well before Leo Beo, I’d had experiences that tested this awareness.”
― Keke Palmer, Master of Me: The Secret to Controlling Your Narrative

“I’m not sucking up, I’m surviving, I thought. There’s a difference.”
― Shari Franke, The House of My Mother: A Daughter's Quest for Freedom

“Life is a process that evolves day by day, year by year, and—like it or not—you are engaged in a cycle of growth until the moment you take your last breath. In any kind of growth, there may be failures, mistakes, grief, and pain. Trees lose their leaves, endure cold winters, then come back majestically the next spring. We’re meant to shed our dead skin and the parts of ourselves that don’t serve us, and sometimes it’s immensely painful.”
― Hayden Panettiere, This Is Me: A Reckoning