Dr. Maya Angelou is undoubtedly powerful and influential with her words, and thankfully she doesn't come off as too much of a lyrical enigma of sorts. I say this especially if you can capture the meaning behind her assorted catalog of material. Still, in that respect, she is like the woman (or even mentor) that I probably needed closely in my youth. Nevertheless, it takes me a couple of careful readings to grasp the meaning behind her poems, quotes and what have you in between. Sometimes I find what I am looking for when I seek some advice to calm my over thinking spirit. Then there are moments where I am attached simply to her story, as discovered after I read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings years ago. Nevertheless, Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now was read for answers; for some words I could use at this moment to help clear a couple of clouds or phantom feelings of inertia.
Quotes you may need from Maya Angelou’s Wouldn’t Take Nothing For My Journey Now...
__________
_________
This quote very much resonates with me. As someone who tends to feel swallowed up by his current surroundings/location, nothing screams more to my spirit than to be successful enough to have the freedom to choose where I want to go and expose myself to cultures I feel my spirit needs to "download" through hands-on experience. See, I get a lot of puzzled gazes from people when I express how I wish to clap twice before bowing my head in a Japanese Shinto shrine, or sun-soak near travertine ponds in China--among other things. Those puzzled gazes then ask why would I want to go visit those countries and do those things. I tell them because I feel like I can express and be myself in unlimited places.
__________
"I like charitable people and like to think of myself as charitable, as being of a generous heart and a giving nature--of being a friend indeed to anyone in need. Why, I ponder, did the benefactors not feel as I?"
__________
Like any quote, there are ways to reflect the author’s message onto our personal lives. This quote in particularly caused me to recall the many occasions in which I’ve done something charitable for a friend simply as a friend. Never asking for anything in return. Only acting as a support system to their needs--and sometimes--requests. The problem with that is sometimes those situations become one-sided, which would be okay if we all weren’t human and would sometimes like to have someone think of us out of common civility. I experience this often with friends. Playing the role of support for other individuals but sometimes finding myself disregarded or taken for granted because of that position I took.
__________
"Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or unpromising, and the roads back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and, carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that as well."
__________
This quote is probably my favorite, taken from Angelou's essay titled, "New Directions". The essay shares the story of Annie Johnson, a woman during the early 20th century who found herself an entrepreneur after marital discontent, followed by the divorcing of her husband. Nevertheless, the message of the quote sung so clearly to me, but can appear pretty self-explanatory if not relative to the individual who finds his or her own meaning within it. For me, it asks me to keep moving forward, boldly and anxious for whatever the future brings even if I have to drop some things (or people) off to reach what I feel is the right path. I have to take control of this thing called life, and its many directions. I would like to elaborate a little more, but will stop here.
__________
"Never try to take the manners of another as your own, for the theft will be immediately evident and the thief will appear as ridiculous as a robin with peacock feathers hastily stuck on. Style is as unique and nontransferable and perfectly personal as a fingerprint. It is wise to take the time to develop one's own way of being, increasing those things one does well and eliminating the elements in one's character which can hinder and diminish the good personality."
__________
I suppose at one point we've all been known to "bite someone's flavor" without understanding that we should shine and uphold our own. Whether it's conscious or subconsciously done, it just seems a part of life. Especially in adolescence. Still, I think there comes a time when you have to play up on your own, personal strengths; likewise, become accountable for your weaknesses and the consequences they bring. And if all else fails, we can try to remember that what we put out we get back. If being yourself consist of you brightening up someone else's day with a smile, you'll get that back. Should you wallow in misery, that, too, is all you'll get. So many directions. So much potential for over-thinking.
__________
"It is this belief in a power larger than myself and other than myself which allows me to venture into the unknown and even the unknowable. I cannot separate what I conceive as Spirit from my concept of God. Thus, I believe that God is Spirit."
__________
I'll be simple and quick with this semi-loaded quote. It can go in so many directions that I don't care to go to. I am not religious, or at least fashioned underneath the banner of "organized religion". However, I believe in God. Call it God, Universe, etc. It doesn't matter. To each his own. As for me, God is a force that consist of love inside other matters that are complex and unreachable in human form. To me, God is not this humanized persona many religions stack upon. Nonetheless, I would be a fool to believe that I can traverse this world without a belief in God. I'm scared of anyone who is able to move through this earth without such to ground them. That's why I like this quote. I also must trust that there is a power larger than me that can push me through the unknown that makes up being alive and uncertain about my existence/purpose.
__________
"Seek the fashion which truly fits and befits you. You will always be in fashion if you are true to yourself, and only if you are true to yourself."
__________
I am far from being a fashionista or even fashionably conscious. That's not to say that I have split the link between what I wear and what kind of attention it will attract, as well as how I feel in it. I still strive to look relatively good and decent, checking the mirror and changing tops and bottoms seconds before I leave the house. However, one thing is true about me: I don't try to keep up with what is "in". I like my scruffy slip-in shoes. I wear t-shirts years old. And I have several comfortable pairs of jeans stashed in my clothest because I'm too lazy to make room for new ones. My clothes and shoes aren't big name brands. Never had a pair of Jordans in my life that didn't come second-hand and out of fashion from a cousin. I shop at Target and, if I'm out accompanying a friend, Ross. I like to spend less than $50 on clothes, but I took advantage during H&M's After-Christmas sale where I got $10 off a $20 purchase. So it's nice to have two really cool t-shirts for the price of one, but the fact is that I rather spend my money at Barnes & Nobles as opposed to Footlocker. And I'm okay with that. That's being true to myself.
__________
"One day the teacher, Frederick Wilkerson asked me to read to him. I was twenty-four, very erudite, very worldly. He asked that I read from Lessons in Truth, a section which ended with these words: 'God loves me.' I read the piece and closed the book, and the teacher said, 'Read it again.' I pointedly opened the book, and I sarcastically read, 'God loves me.' He said, 'Again.' After about the seventh repetition I began to sense that there might be truth in the statement, that there was a possibility that God really did love me. Me, Maya Angelou. I suddenly began to cry at the grandness of it all. I knew that if God loved me, then I could do wonderful things, I could try great things, learn anything, achieve anything. For what could stand against me with God, since one person, any person with God, constitutes the majority?"
__________
I related to this passage and wanted to share it. I had a similar experience once at work. On two occasions I found myself frustrated, wrapped in my dreams and stuck hauling trash to the dumpster and sweeping the parking lot clean. On the first occasions I was sweeping away when a voice inside me said: "I am here. You are not alone." The second time I was wheeling away trash when a voice said: "God wants you to be happy". There was this undeniable Truth in both occasions that I exploded into gleeful laughter. I realized how right the voices were. It was only I resisting those Truths by clouding my mind with my current situation.
__________
"There are many incidents which can eviscerate the stalwart and bring the mighty down. In order to survive, the ample soul needs refreshments and reminders daily of its right to be and to be wherever it finds itself."
__________
This quote is taken from the essay titled, "Further New Directions". It's here that Maya Angelou share details during her teen years, where she was fired from a job. Sadden by the incident, her mother encouraged her by reminding her that she will look for another job and survive again should something happen to that one. What I like most about this quote is the use of the terms "refreshments" and "reminders". Sometimes, alone, I am not enough to lift my spirits when they are down. At least my thinking can't remove itself from troubling and anxious thoughts. That's when I have to surround myself with things that refresh and remind me of how I want to think/feel. Whether I play a Louise Hay audio book, watch a TV show that inspired me as a youth, or simply come onto the blog, I use those things to pull myself out of muddy thoughts so that I can proceed to survive and move forward. Truth be told, we need everything we can get to survive when we began to attack ourselves.
__________
No comments:
Post a Comment