Under Rose-Tainted Skies Quotes
"Thank you for helping me find my brave, for showing me strength when adversity was overwhelming, and for always reminding me to breathe."
"The point is it can fly away whenever it wants. And it knows it can."
"You don’t have to take the last one twice, Dr Reeves would say."
"But I do, I’d tell her. Then she’d ask me why, and I would say, as I always do, Because that’s the way my mind works."
"Losing that would be like pulling the plug on my life support system."
"I’m not allowed to think that. Instead, I’m supposed to remind myself that we bother because if I don’t learn how to control my fears, I’m going to die cold and alone."
"Hell, if we all lived like that, we’d stay stock-still our entire lives or be forced to roll around the streets in those giant plastic bubbles."
"It’s not stupid if it makes you feel afraid."
"Perfection is a feeling; you’ll know it if you’ve ever questioned the competency of your penmanship before writing on the first page of a new notebook."
"It’s forever my intention to avoid social media on weekends, but a morbid sense of curiosity, or a subconscious desire for S & M, always convinces me to open the application when it calls."
"I’m already covering a multitude of colours on the mental health spectrum. Depression can’t come in."
"I’ll just have to come to terms with the fact that I’ll never kiss anyone. Ever."
"Her tinkling-bell tone now reinforced with sheets of steel."
"I can’t think of anything worse. Oh no, wait. Yes, I can."
"I wish he would leave. My heart keeps missing beats."
"It’s like when the heat rises off the desert floor and smudges the landscape, everything was out of focus."
"My fingers find the bolt anyway and push on it."
"Sometimes, things are going to happen and the only way out is through."
"Mom’s words turn to whale song as she talks me down off this impossibly high life ledge."
"It’s not right. Some things are just supposed to be."
"I’m not thinking straight. The space outside seems to be swelling."
"Anxiety has anchored itself to my stomach and sits like concrete on top of the cheese sandwich I ate twelve hours ago."
"The thing is, this one guy licks the tip of his girlfriend’s nose. Her nose. That thing on your face that snot seeps out of. Snot: that mucus shit that is basically a fishing net for bacteria."
"I feel like I just dipped my face in the centre of the sun."
"Anxiety doesn’t just stop. You can have nice moments, minutes where it shrinks, but it doesn’t leave."
"The best you can hope for is to contain it, make it as small as possible so it stops being intrusive."
"It’s times like this when I’m glad no one knows the things I do to make myself feel safe."
"Dr Reeves says that I take note of situations like this because it tricks my brain into thinking I’m being proactive about a problem."
"I can’t stop or control Luke’s party, but watching things unfold, tracking activity, taking mental notes, makes me feel less like I’m falling into an abyss."
"That’s not fair. My eyes narrow and I glare at the door, turning toddler, my bottom lip curling under."
"Not knowing is unsettling; unsettling lurks beneath my skin like an army of crawling insects."
"There’s not a person in the world at your age who doesn’t worry about this stuff."
"You just have to be yourself and do what you think is best."
"Sometimes I wonder if I should be locked in a straitjacket."
"Anxiety has become my best friend. It’s a crutch that helps me hobble through life."
"When people say 'weird', what they really mean is 'different'. And difference has never been a bad thing."
"You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to. You do a lot of things in your free time with books and movies and music and language. Invite him in, talk about anything else."
"I can’t tell Luke why I lied. Can I? How can I be his friend? I’m afraid he’ll laugh at me."
"The silence is screaming; my eardrums are beginning to blister. He thinks I’m a weirdo."
"I remember the blackbird bouncing on my windowsill."
"I was hoping to get your attention. You see, I thought we were flirting."
"It's like being introduced to Advanced Calculus all over again."
"This moment right here, this is the best normal moment I’ve had in the past four years."
"I want to put it in a box and keep it forever."
"It’s not you. It’s about feeling safe."
"I love hanging out here with you. I love talking to you, and eating ice cream with you."
"If you stop doing things because I won’t be there, you’re going to end up feeling trapped here."
"What about New Year's Eve? Fell asleep before midnight watching a SpongeBob marathon. Forever one of the cool kids."
"Your mind adapts to what worse is. Suddenly, that thing that seemed so terrifying at first is dwarfed by the next challenge that comes your way."
"I don’t know why people do sit-ups when laughing is so much fun."
"I think I see you a little differently than how you see yourself."
"I’m confused. Is this about me kissing you or about your own insecurities?"
"I'm not sure what I'm looking for, a force field, a puppet string being pulled. Something. But I find nothing."
"It's a privilege to always be around such a broad network of knowledge and skill."