The First Step Quotes

“Mental illness

People assume you aren’t sick
unless they see the sickness on your skin
like scars forming a map of all the ways you’re hurting.

My heart is a prison of Have you tried?s
Have you tried exercising? Have you tried eating better?
Have you tried not being sad, not being sick?
Have you tried being more like me?
Have you tried shutting up?

Yes, I have tried. Yes, I am still trying,
and yes, I am still sick.

Sometimes monsters are invisible, and
sometimes demons attack you from the inside.
Just because you cannot see the claws and the teeth
does not mean they aren’t ripping through me.
Pain does not need to be seen to be felt.

Telling me there is no problem
won’t solve the problem.

This is not how miracles are born.
This is not how sickness works.”
― Emm Roy, The First Step

“Don’t waste your entire life always waiting for the end of the day, for the weekend, for summer, for things to
change, for something better. Enjoy as much of the present as you can. Now is happening. Now is good. Now belongs to you.”
― Emm Roy, The First Step

“I listen to the rain talk to the leaves. She tells a story of love and
leaving (isn’t that always the story? Isn’t that always the punchline?)
She tells it softly like someone who has recently lost something that
cannot be replaced. She closes her eyes and remembers. The leaves
quietly wait. They love in silence. They understand in the dark. And I
too begin to understand. We are all part pouring rain, part fallen
leaves. We are all part of the world, and we all have a story.”
― Emm Roy, The First Step

“A relationship is not a death row
pardon. Being alone is not the end.
Your own head is a beautiful place
to visit. The architecture of your
thoughts deserves recognition for
its vast complexity and beauty.”
― Emm Roy, The First Step