Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything Quotes

“I still find it easier to take full responsibility for things instead of allowing others to be held accountable, because if I can blame myself, then I feel a false sense of control that I can solve the problem. As a kid, I did whatever felt safest, even if it meant taking on the weight of the world.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“What’s the emotion that feels like flutters in your stomach, plus caffeine and being really absorbed by every detail of a person? [...] "It was a woman. I think I was like, admiring her. Strange what the body does sometimes.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“We transcended labels, structures, and expectations. We left each other better than we found each other. And no matter what happened, I now knew this unconditional love was available within me forever.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“What I miscalculated about leaping past mistakes to enlightenment was that disowning messy parts of myself didn’t mean they didn’t exist, nor had I “fixed” them. Avoiding uncomfortable thoughts and volatile feelings did not make them, or the deeper wounds accompanying them, disappear. They were just banished out of my direct awareness, lying dormant in the shadows. And I had a life’s worth of them festering.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“Nick Jonas and I both had a zeal for God, exchanging interpretations of scripture during schooling sessions and examining current events through biblical lenses. They were atypical conversations for teens and the polar opposite of the hedonistic Hollywood stereotype. But I loved that I could be open about my beliefs with someone.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“My heart swelled. In a split second, I gained a personal relationship with a Savior. Just when I needed family the most, I gained a Father and Provider, not to mention a map for my life. The voids I’d been feeling were now filled, overflowing with what I came to understand as God’s presence. Since God gave me everything, it seemed more than reasonable that he deserved my everything in return. I smoothly transferred my acquired skill of pleasing casting directors, fans, and family into pleasing God. I counted it a gift to obey him.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“But even the most attentive parent couldn’t catch everything, especially when nobody told us what to look for.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“Unbeknownst to us, my own employers at Disney and Nickelodeon hired registered sex offenders who were my and my peers’ colleagues.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“The catch was, we didn’t know what doors we had opened until we were already inside.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“Unintentionally, Mike’s Super Short Show squeezed out the final drops of childhood wonder I had left. Acting wasn’t an art, it was a business. Time wasn’t free, it was money. And the fire hose of positive reinforcement came from adults praising me for behaving like one of them. “Here comes the veteran!” “One-take wonder!” “What an old soul!” My self-esteem was built around my ability to operate like a grown-up, or, more accurately, a fail-proof robot.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“It took great effort and, ironically, faith to allow my paradigm to transform, like I was tearing down a house while still living in it, uncertain if I'd find a solid structure again. But the evidence was encouraging: every day, I had more love to give people and the planet.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“Embracing grief granted me a new clarity and resignation about my future: Never again would I live a lite that others chose for me. Never again would I abandon myself. My future would reflect my true path and purpose, not anyone else's.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything

“If I can blame myself then I feel a false sense of control that I can fix the problem.”
― Alyson Stoner, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything