Jenn

When we see people in our peer group play with an idea, our behavior changes. That’s how intelligence is created. That’s how culture is created.

And, finally, I want us collectively, as citizens of the world, to reclaim our ability to create and innovate in a rapidly changing world, recognizing what we gain by harnessing the power of every kind of mind.

Because the world I was born into did not yet distinguish between different ways of thinking, it was disconcerting to discover that other people didn’t think the same way I did.

We assume that the dominance of language forms not only the foundation of how we communicate, but also the foundation of how we think—and in fact for centuries, we have been taught to believe just that.

[…] the work of changing, imagining, reimagining, building, and rebuilding the world—is on me, too, because it’s on all of us.

“She wouldn’t admit it—she might not even realize it herself, but she’s the kind of person who would feel beholden to me. She would think I need her. When what I really need is for her to be happy, whether it’s with me, or alone, or with someone else.”

Sometimes the other assistants and I would talk about how we felt a little bit like zoo animals. Our über-wealthy bosses had no idea how we lived.

Eight was still a shit ton of money, but Marci's words haunted me. “No, I'm sorry, my rate is ten dollars an hour,” I said.

Our power is…different. It is always met with fear or greed. Other Grisha either run from it, or they want it for themselves.

Then I became aware of the heavy atmosphere in the room. I felt that I was inside Yuichi's nightmare, and that if I stayed here too long I, too, would become a part of it, destined to be snuffed out in the gloom.

Under the blue sky, inhaling the clear, sharp bite of winter air, I was overwhelmed by it all. What should I do? I had no idea. The sky was blue, blue. The bare trees were sharply silhouetted, and a cold wind was seeping through.

Truly great people emit a light that warms the hearts of those around them. When that light has been put out, a heavy shadow of despair descends.

“Life can be so hard," I said, moved. "Yes. But if a person hasn't ever experienced true de-spair, she grows old never knowing how to evaluate where she is in life; never understanding what joy really is. I'm grateful for it."

But you can make the choices I couldn’t, and that makes it worth it. Your body belongs to you. You decide what's right for it. Only you. It’s worth it if you want it.

When I found out I was pregnant, I wondered. Was this her spirit [Grandma] returning to me? In grief, you try to make sense of things like that.

By the age of thirty, things have fallen into place for most people. They’re more or less settled, with jobs and families. Nobody here today is a student anymore. This is a bunch of adults who’ve shed their school uniforms and evolved into something else.

Things change, even if you want them to stay the same. At the same time, you can try to change, but you will still remain the same. [ch pg #]

You may say that it was the book, but it’s how you read a book that is most valuable, rather than any power it might have itself. [ch pg #]

Try not to think of upset plans or schedules as personal failure or bad luck. If you can do that, then you can change, in your own self and in your life overall. [change pg #]

Life is one revelation after another. Things don’t always go to plan, no matter what your circumstances. But the flip side is all the unexpected, wonderful things that you could never have imagined happening. [change pg#]