Immortalizing Maya Angelou

The thought of being a stranger to Maya Angelou and her works, all these years, throttles me. And, I know, if it weren’t for her death, I would’ve still been a stranger.  

Thankfully, Vidya Sury’s insightful post on her, made me realize what I had been missing all these years: about 7 autobiographical books and many more books on poems.

A life well-lived, despite hailing from a broken family, despite being a victim of child abuse, despite being a madam and a prostitute, despite all odds stacked against her, Maya led a meaningful life and wrote meaningful books.  “I know Why the Caged birds sings” being one among them.

Sadly, she is no more. But I wanted a piece of this magnetic women in my blog. A pic, a quote …anything that would help me remind me of her every now and then. Anything, which would help me immortalize her in my memories. And what better to immortalize her than to recount her awe-inspiring quotes. 

So, here goes my favorite ones:

There are so many of them, that it became almost impossible for me to narrow down to my favorite one.  But this one caught my attention and set me on a thinking trail.

 

“To grow up is to stop putting blame on parents”

― Maya Angelou, Becoming Myself: Reflections on Growing Up Female

I’ve been blaming my parents for all the wrongs in life. I know there’s an expiry date to blaming them. But for me it was an easy way out of my misery. But after reading this quote, I felt, how wrong I was in holding them responsible for all the emotional upheavals in my life.  It's high time that i take charge of my life and emotions and let not the small ups and downs of my life disturb the mental balance of my parents, let alone mine. 

John Green, in his book "The Fault in Our Stars says,“You do not immortalize the lost by writing about them. Language buries, but does not resurrect.” However, i couldn't agree with this amazing author's take on language. For me language resurrects, helps immortalize the people we love, in our memories forever.

  



 
Write Tribe Wednesday Prompt: To elaborate on Maya Angelou's quotes.