I think this is it. I think after asking so many people over and over again, going through multiple designs, and getting frustrated to the max, I think I'm going with this cover. This was a very hard decision for me. I originally went with the night sky because it's in the dead of night where I created these stories, but they also have another meaning. It's in the night time when we have trouble falling asleep, is when we think about the inevitable. Ageing, pain, friendship, disease, happiness, death, what we will eat tomorrow, etc. It's at night where these thoughts flutter the most to many people. And it's in the night where we hope we can start anew the next day. I will inevitably tweak this here and there, but I think I'm going with this.
Below are some other book cover iterations that I was going for. When I first thoguht about my cover, I wanted to actually hold a contest, but got advice from some awesome people in my self publishing groups. The only way I was going to find the perfect cover was to make it myself. So I did. By all means, I am not the best grapahic designer, though I do like designing stuff for work, I consider myself intermediate.
All the designs below I made with Canva (which is a pretty awesome program, especially if you are a social media/digital marketer #lifesaver). Some using their graphics and some pulling out my own photographs and such to create something. But in the end, none of them suited me in the way I wanted.
I also created one more image with a photo I had taken in black and white film (then edited to the blue tone one you see below). I really wanted to use this, since there was a clock and the one way sign was there. But I didn't think it was as interesting photo as the one I went with. I also asked numerous friends, family and groups about this photo and the one I ended up going with.
I was really torn between the two, but ultimately chose the design at the very top. I am happy with my decision and I hope people who read it will be happy as well. Book cover decision making is hard, especially when you are a self publishing author. If you need help, feel free to reach out to me! I'm happy to help.