"It felt as if things were literally slipping through my fingers. Things were just streaming away from me. I lost my sense of humor. I'm still looking for that"
About this Quote
The gut-punch is the turn from “things” to “my sense of humor.” Money, time, career, relationships: all implied, none named. Then she identifies the real emergency as tonal. Humor is social currency, a coping tool, a way of staying likable while you’re falling apart. To “lose” it is to lose the mask that lets pain pass in public without alarming anyone. For an actress, whose work depends on timing, responsiveness, and emotional access, the admission lands as professional and existential at once: if your inner buoyancy goes missing, what happens to the self you perform, on-screen and off?
The final sentence refuses the neat comeback narrative. “I’m still looking for that” is both wry and unfinished, a small act of honesty in a culture that rewards resilience as a branding strategy. It suggests grief or depression not as a single chapter but as a weather system: it changes your taste for jokes, your tolerance for lightness, your ability to improvise your way through life. The intent isn’t confession for its own sake; it’s a warning about the quiet, cumulative theft of selfhood.
Quote Details
| Topic | Sadness |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Williams, Michelle. (2026, January 18). It felt as if things were literally slipping through my fingers. Things were just streaming away from me. I lost my sense of humor. I'm still looking for that. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-felt-as-if-things-were-literally-slipping-21870/
Chicago Style
Williams, Michelle. "It felt as if things were literally slipping through my fingers. Things were just streaming away from me. I lost my sense of humor. I'm still looking for that." FixQuotes. January 18, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-felt-as-if-things-were-literally-slipping-21870/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It felt as if things were literally slipping through my fingers. Things were just streaming away from me. I lost my sense of humor. I'm still looking for that." FixQuotes, 18 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/it-felt-as-if-things-were-literally-slipping-21870/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.



