The Museum of Ordinary People Quotes

“Because that’s the thing about grief no one ever tells you: it’s greedy. You don’t notice at first because you’re still in shock, and there’s so much to do, from obtaining death certificates to canceling utility contracts, but hour by hour, day by day, it eats up every last scrap of energy you have, leaving you spent and empty.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“I find myself whispering an apology to the person I used to be.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“How could I possibly empty the contents of Mum’s house, when just like King Midas I felt like everything she owned, no matter how ordinary, had been turned into gold by her touch?”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“this task, the clearing of Mum’s house, was my last opportunity to say goodbye? How to explain that I needed to show this final kindness to her?”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“Did they need to physically occupy space in my home when what they represented took up so much space in my heart?”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“I’d learned the hard way that Mum was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“It was as though without Mum the house had lost its life, and now without her things it had lost its soul too.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“even the path of least resistance leads somewhere, and not necessarily to the place you want to end up.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“I wanted to put as much love and care into the taking apart of my wonderful mum’s home as had been poured into bringing it all together in the first place?”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“from now on I’m determined to make my decisions purposefully, mindfully, choosing my life rather than allowing myself to be carried along by its ebb and flow.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“of becoming a curator seemed so impossible, so far removed from the life I was living, that I felt like I had more chance of becoming an astronaut than I ever would of actually getting my dream career off the ground.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“that’s the thing about grief no one ever tells you: it’s greedy. You don’t notice at first because you’re still in shock, and there’s so much to do, from obtaining death certificates to canceling utility contracts, but hour by hour, day by day, it eats up every last scrap of energy you have, leaving you spent and empty.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“I’d sooner be alone forever than settle for anything less.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“let’s raise a toast: here’s to the Museum of Ordinary People 2.0! And let’s hope it doesn’t end with us all getting arrested!”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People

“Looking back, I don’t think there was ever a point where I officially gave up on my dreams; instead I think it happened gradually, as these things do, so that I barely noticed the shift in my thinking.”
― Mike Gayle, The Museum of Ordinary People