Harley in the Sky Quotes

“Stars shine their brightest in the dark. So take this opportunity, and supernova the shit out of it.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“Don't let (a chance) go to waste because the reality of your dreams isn't as pretty as you'd imagined.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“When you live with wolves, you learn to howl,' he says . . . 'the wolf is dangerous, and the howl is a kind of pain. If you spend too much time around people whose souls are hurting, eventually your soul starts to cry out too.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“It's good to stay motivated, but if you're putting so much pressure on yourself that you're making yourself unhappy, that's not good. Try not to be so hard on yourself, okay? Set a pace you're comfortable with. Enjoy the journey.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“And the more I think about it, the more frustrated I get by the entire concept of a backup plan. Because it only ever seems to pertain to people who are interested in art, music, theater--and yes, the circus. Nobody would ever dream of going up to someone in medical school and telling them, 'Gee, I really think you should have a backup plan. You know, just in case this doesn't work out for you.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“But emotions aren’t black-and-white—you don’t have to be either happy or sad. There can be an in-between, you know.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I don't know. It kind of sucks not knowing for sure, because when I explain it to people, they just look at me like I'm making it up. But if someone has a diagnosis and medication? Then it's 'legitimate'. And don't get me wrong, those things are super important for a lot of people. But I feel like associating legitimacy with a formal diagnosis sometimes leaves people behind--people like me, whose families really frown on anything to do with therapy and meds, or people who have found their own ways of coping with it, or people who can't afford it. It doesn't mean they don't still feel what they feel--they just don't have the privilege of being told by someone with a degree what they're allowed to call it. Shouldn't the focus be on what we're feeling rather than what box we can neatly fit ourselves into?”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I don't want to be perfect. I want to be vulnerable and messy and free and wild. I want to experience all the crooked edges in the world, and make mistakes, and grow from them. I want twisty roads and dark corners and big, wide bends.
And I know my parents won't ever agree, but I wish they could at least see my version of the world as a possibility.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I only wish my parents could see what this means to me.
What it would mean to hold a dream in my palm, press it tight against my heart, and never let it go.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I love the circus. I love the mystery, and the wonder, and the way every act transports my soul into another dimension. I love the way it makes me feel as if the world is in reverse and upside down all at once--like there's starlight beneath my feet and the ocean above my head, and every impossible dream can come true with a single whisper.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I believe in gray areas. I live in the gray area. But when it comes to my parents, I guess it’s always been easier to put them in boxes. Even though I hate boxes. Because the problem with boxes is that they don’t give people any room to grow.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“My hopefulness feels like it’s wedged in my throat—it hurts to get the words out, but it would hurt even more to swallow them back down and bury them in the pit of my stomach, where they’d fester for an eternity because some dreams refuse to die.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“Time is funny like that. When you’re content, it goes by in a blink. But when you’re unsettled? In those moments, time feels eternal.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“There has to be honor in success, otherwise it isn't earned -- it's taken.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“Sometimes impulsive is like a bright red warningsign that I'm afraid to go near. But other times it's bubblegum pink and cotton candy blue and bursting with confetti and fireworks and the nostalgic music they play when you step foot into Disneyland.
Sometimes impulsive feels like magic.
It feels good.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I fall asleep dreaming of me in the big top, balancing on the static trapeze to the sound of Vas's violin.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“Sometimes I feel like that too--like a balloon with too much air, or a spring with too much tension. I need to pop--to release everything I'm feeling--which usually just sends me in the opposite direction until the same thing happens again.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky

“I'm American, but that only explains my passport. It doesn't explain all the other pieces of me that aren't easily labeled.
Sometimes it feels like if I call myself American, people will only ever follow up with, "But what are you really?"
But if I lead the conversation? If I tell them everything I am? If I point out all the pieces of my heritage to explain why I have my name, and my face, and my culture? Then people tell me I don't get to be all these other things--I only get to be American. Like the rest of me is suddenly erased. Like my heritage isn't important. Like all the pieces that should mean something don't mean anything at all.
And in all honesty, I'm really tired of people thinking they have any authority whatsoever on what I'm allowed to call myself.”
― Akemi Dawn Bowman, Harley in the Sky