changing the game






I've been getting creative lately (thanks, quaratine) and making some canvas bags with some of my favourite quotes! This one is from Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, the sequel to one of my all-time favourite books.


This might just be a quote from a book, but it honestly touched my life so much. I first came across it when I read the Six of Crows duology in early 2018 (I'm rereading it now), a time when I'd get really anxious and stressed over a lot of very minor things. After reading these books, I'd think of this quote, and it would help me deal with my anxieties; it would remind me that there's always two ways around something, that if one way of dealing with a situation isn't working, I could always find another that did.


For example, if I was getting very stressed because I was scared of something going wrong, I'd ask myself: so what if it does go wrong? Why should it matter? This quote helped me remember that I had the power to change my perspective on a situation, and many times that would make the anxiety clear up and go away. I'd take a toxic pattern of thinking, a game I couldn't escape, and I'd change it to my liking. It made me feel powerful, in control of my own life; like I could outsmart anyone, even my own mind when it was making me suffer. At the time, that was just what I needed.


I may not rely on this quote so much anymore, but I still use this tactic to deal with stress and anxiety; I remind myself that I can choose how I respond to a situation, and that I have the power to change the game whenever I want to. It doesn't work every time -- there's still a lot I need to work through -- but sometimes, it's enough. And for that, I am grateful.


I guess what I'm trying to say here is that fiction can change people's lives in the most profound and unlikely of ways: you can write one simple sentence, and that sentence can affect someone's life in ways you never intended. Stories truly are the most powerful force. They can change the world. .


Tell me about a book/quote that was meaningful to you in some way?

> > Andrea

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