Shell Ballenger

“This is what it is to be a woman. Everything is your job. Your job is everything. To be attractive, successful, raise smart, healthy children who are ready for life. To be available to everything. To be everything. And you work hard at it. At everything. At doing all this everything right. And in the back of your mind, you're holding your breath and waiting for someone to hand you a prize. Something that says 'you did a good job, you did good at everything.' And someone appreciates it. If you're lucky, you get little flashes here and there. A promotion at work or someone notices you've lost a few pounds, but you always hope for that one person who will look at you and see all the everything you do, and applaud.”
― Mecca Jamilah Sullivan

“translates as “cozy” but is much, much more; hygge is sitting on a dark winter’s night with friends or family, the room candlelit, everyone knitting or crocheting sipping coffee or beer, eating pastry or smørrebrød talking, talking, listening, talking, enjoying the pleasure of kindred spirits with the winds howling outside”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“Be kind. Love each other. Fuck everything else.”
― Jenny Lawson, Broken

“And so, with extra Leslie help and a chorus
of angels disguised as teachers and librarians
for years unstinting with love and hours
of practice, those ants finally marched
in straight lines for me
shaped words, danced sentences,
constructed worlds
for a girl finally learning how to read

I unlocked the treasure chest
and swallowed the key.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout