Melissa

“The act of writing is a way to create another world in language, a dwelling place for the psyche wherein the chaos of the external world is transformed, shaped into a made thing, and ordered. It is an act of reclamation. And resistance: the soul sings for justice and the song is poetry.”
― Natasha Trethewey, The House of Being

“To have dominion over oneself, to be the sovereign of the nation of the self, one must be the writer of the story.”
― Natasha Trethewey, The House of Being

“What’s sturdy and effective for you may not be what’s sturdy and effective in the hands of your boss, or your mother, or your life partner. A spatula won’t help you change a flat tire; a tire iron won’t help you fry an egg. (Though by all means, feel free to prove me wrong.) Tools evolve over time, based on our circumstances and growth. What works in one phase of life may not work in another.”
― Michelle Obama, The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

“Writing is a way of creating order out of chaos, of taking charge of one's own story, being the sovereign of the self by pushing back against received knowledge and guarding the sanctity of the dwelling place of the imagination, that place of first permission.”
― Natasha Trethewey, The House of Being