the past only had whatever power you gave it; life was what you made it and if you wanted something different from what you had, it was up to you to make it happen. Sara Zarr More Quotes by Sara Zarr More Quotes From Sara Zarr The world was full of beauty. She wanted to grab hold of it and take it down into her bones. Yet always it seemed beyond her grasp. Sometimes only by a little, like now. The thinnest membrane. Usually, though, by miles. She couldn’t expect to be that kind of happy all the time. She knew that. But sometimes you could. Sometimes you should be allowed a tiny bit of joy that should stay with you for more than five minutes. That wasn’t too much to ask. To have a moment like this, and be able to hold on to it. To cross that membrane, and feel alive. Sara Zarr alive joy world It's as if once you hit high school, you're programmed, like a robot, to be an asshole to your parents. Sara Zarr robots parent school My whole life has been one big broken promise. Sara Zarr rejection broken promise It's a jagged thing in my throat, how much I miss her. Sara Zarr throat missing I never had a connection like that to anyone, where every day you think about what you’ll tell them and you wonder what they’re doing, and you know they’re wondering what you’re doing. Sara Zarr connections wonder thinking It's just so out of control. Life, I mean. The way it flies off in all these different directions without your permission. Sara Zarr different mean way I'm remembering how this works. How life doesn't have to be only anxiety about what's gone wrong or could go worng, and complaints about the world around you. How a person you're excited about can remind you there's stuff going on beyond... routine oil changes and homework. Stuff that matters. Stuff to look forward to. Sara Zarr routine anxiety oil Sometimes you want to hear your own mother's voice. Sara Zarr voice mother want When my characters are questioning things, it's not me leading up to an answer; it's me asking those same questions and letting the characters' lives unfold and seeing where it takes them. Sara Zarr answer questions things me I'm so focused on trying to craft the story that I'm in my own little world with it and that process. The one reader I'm trying to please as I write is me, and I'm pretty difficult to please. Sara Zarr story me my-own world The characters are whole, real people to me that I'm getting to know, and since real people are all flawed, so are my characters, I hope. Sara Zarr know me hope people When a young reader tells you that they'd never finished a book outside of school until they read yours, or that they really needed to hear something that one of your characters says or thinks... that's just rewarding and humbling. Sara Zarr never you book school