Exactly! We run or we lose ourselves in something, somebody, anything to try and ease our pain.

People left a lot of things behind when they went in the water. Their clothes, their stuff, their makeup, their fixed-up hair, their voices, their hearing, their sight--at least as they normally experienced them....Some people lost their individuality in the water, but Riley always felt most herself. Water was supposed to symbolize renewal, she knew, but when Riley swam, pared down, alone, and unreachable--she felt a deeper sense of who she already was.

She kept walking. The very small, brave part of her brain knew that this would be her one chance. If she turned around, she would lose it.

Ruins stood for what was lost, and yet there were beautiful-peaceful, historic, intellectual. Not tragic or regrettable. Lena tried to keep hers that way too, and she succeeded to some extent. Why not celebrate what you had rather than spend your time mourning its passing? There could be joy in things that ended.

All my life, everybody has seen me a certain way. What do you see?

Maybe there is more truth in how you feel than in what actually happens.

The dreams weren’t as pleasing when they had no chance of coming true