--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Was this the big one or was this the…" description: "\"Was this the big one or was this the small tremor, the warning? Does it get better - does the sensation of being in a dream underwater go away?\" — A.M...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/a-m-homes-12366_bigs_was-this-the-big-one-or-was-this-the-sma_1804522.png" --- # Was this the big one or was this the small tremor, the… ![“Was this the big one or was this the small tremor, the warning? Does it get better - does the sensation of being in a dream underwater go away?” quote by A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/a-m-homes-12366_bigs_was-this-the-big-one-or-was-this-the-sma_1804522.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/a-m-homes-12366_bigs_was-this-the-big-one-or-was-this-the-sma_1804522.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0e0/a-m-homes-12366_bigs_was-this-the-big-one-or-was-this-the-sma_1804522.png) > “Was this the big one or was this the small tremor, the warning? Does it get better - does the sensation of being in a dream underwater go away?” [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker questions whether a crisis is major or minor and wonders if the unsettling, dream‑like feeling will subside. **In simple terms:** Questioning the size of a problem and its lingering effects. Key Takeaway Seek clarity and reassurance. Themes uncertainty perception anxiety Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical questioning When to use this quote - personal crisis - health concerns - mental health coping - stress management Key Concepts psychology stress cognitive appraisal Questions to Reflect On - What evidence do you have about the crisis's magnitude? - How can you ground yourself in reality? A Different Perspective The feeling may persist despite attempts to rationalize it. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream/) [Dream Underwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dream-underwater-1636930/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Get better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/get-better/) [Going away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/going-away/) [It gets better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/it-gets-better/) [Sensation Dream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sensation-dream-2060841/) [Small Tremor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-tremor-2060840/) [Underwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underwater/) [Underwater Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underwater-away-2060842/) [Warning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warning/) ## Related quotes > [I have been blessed to realize my dream of becoming an underwater photojournalist, but with that, I feel an obligation and sense of urgency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-skerry/i-have-been-blessed-to-realize-my-dream-of-becoming-an-underwater/) [Brian Skerry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-skerry/) > [It takes strength to be proud of yourself and to accept yourself when you know that you have something out of the ordinary about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abigail-tarttelin/it-takes-strength-to-be-proud-of-yourself-and-to-accept-yourself-when/) [Abigail Tarttelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abigail-tarttelin/) > [Every single year since they invented sound recording it gets better and better. 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I mean, how does it get better… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-peterson/the-labor-part-wasn-t-so-great-but-seeing-my-daughter-for-the-first/) [Cassandra Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-peterson/) > [“The whole time I pretend I have mental telepathy. And with my mind only, I’ll say — or think? — to the target, 'Don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-quick/the-whole-time-i-pretend-i-have-mental-telepathy-and-with-my-mind/) [Matthew Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-quick/) > [It gets better. It seems hard, you know, I think being different is always gonna be a tough climb. There's always gonna be people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-lambert/it-gets-better-it-seems-hard-you-know-i-think-being-different-is-2/) [Adam Lambert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-lambert/) > [I've been down a long road, but I promise you, it gets better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronnie-radke/i-ve-been-down-a-long-road-but-i-promise-you-it-gets-better/) [Ronnie Radke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronnie-radke/) > [If there is anything unhealthy in your reactions, just bear in mind that sickness is the means by which an organism frees itself from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/if-there-is-anything-unhealthy-in-your-reactions-just-bear-in-mind/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) ## More by A.M. Homes > [Every family has a story that it tells itself, that it passes on to the children and grandchildren. The story grows over the years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/every-family-has-a-story-that-it-tells-itself-that-it-passes-on-to/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [“You can’t collect everything,” Pat says, putting the dress in with the giveaways. “Life is not a hobby.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/you-can-t-collect-everything-pat-says-putting-the-dress-in-with-the/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [It's my policy not to review funerals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/it-s-my-policy-not-to-review-funerals/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [“I love my foot. If I had to send a part of myself to represent myself in some other country, or in some other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/i-love-my-foot-if-i-had-to-send-a-part-of-myself-to-represent-myself/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [The struggle is how to write optimistically when the world we're living in is not inherently optimistic. I love the idea of the family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/the-struggle-is-how-to-write-optimistically-when-the-world-we-re/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [“You are your own beginning. Every day, every hour, every minute, you start again. There is no point wishing you were someone else, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/you-are-your-own-beginning-every-day-every-hour-every-minute-you/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [Birthday parties make me nervous as hell. They're one of those things where you're forced to be happy. And even if you're totally depressed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/birthday-parties-make-me-nervous-as-hell-they-re-one-of-those-things/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [“A fat old man has disturbed my day, coming to tell me that he has sold my childhood to a museum in Cincinnati.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/a-fat-old-man-has-disturbed-my-day-coming-to-tell-me-that-he-has-sold/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [“The subjects range from the pastoral (sniffing of the butt of a melon to tell if it's ripe. and almost romantically lush descriptions of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/the-subjects-range-from-the-pastoral-sniffing-of-the-butt-of-a-melon/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [I really don't watch enough TV to know about the impact. In my experience as a TV writer, I would say is the exact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/i-really-don-t-watch-enough-tv-to-know-about-the-impact-in-my/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [I am very interested in loyalty, even if the person to whom one is loyal is flawed, criminal, or otherwise in the wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/i-am-very-interested-in-loyalty-even-if-the-person-to-whom-one-is/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [The weird thing about having your birthday on a school day is that by the time you get to be ten, or eleven for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/the-weird-thing-about-having-your-birthday-on-a-school-day-is-that-by/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [My mind leaps to my theory about presidents - that there are two kinds, ones who have a lot of sex and the others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/my-mind-leaps-to-my-theory-about-presidents-that-there-are-two-kinds/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [Philip Galanes makes his debut with a novel that is both heartbreaking and deftly comic, the story of a young man struggling with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/philip-galanes-makes-his-debut-with-a-novel-that-is-both/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) > [“It's a strange city... filled with things that are not obvious.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-m-homes/it-s-a-strange-city-filled-with-things-that-are-not-obvious/) [A.M. Homes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) [Explore all 55 A.M. Homes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-m-homes/) ## More Bigs quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. 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Now the hardest part about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-alexis/the-biggest-change-for-me-as-a-mom-was-realizing-i-needed-to-put/) [Kim Alexis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-alexis/) > [I'm a big fan of all the Boston guys that are acting - Matt Damon , Ben Affleck, Mark Wahlberg - they made a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-wormald/i-m-a-big-fan-of-all-the-boston-guys-that-are-acting-matt-damon-ben/) [Kenny Wormald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-wormald/) > [The only regret I have in my career, is my managers wanted a big payday, and I wanted four or five more fights before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-cooney/the-only-regret-i-have-in-my-career-is-my-managers-wanted-a-big/) [Gerry Cooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-cooney/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. 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