maya angelou

1

i think that maya believed that the caged bird sang because there was hope. there was hope that the bird would eventually be freed. i think that the bird imagined what was out there and couldn't help but sing, because if it didn't sing, it would be acknowledging that there was no hope for a better life. it sang because not to sing would be to admit that there was no hope, and a life without hope isn't a life worth living. i absolutely understand that idea. i am very familiar with the feeling of being trapped, whether it be physically or mentally. sometimes, when i feel as if there's no way out of a decision, i start to feel suffocated, like i can't breath unless i am in my car driving far away from here, getting away from this penitentiary of a city, of these suburbs. i am confident that i would go completely insane if i didn't have dreams, aspirations, hope to get out of here. looking forward to that escape is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going. 

5

i don't think i could ever go so long without speaking. i talk all the time, to friends, to strangers, to animals, to myself. my voice is something essential to who i am as a person. without my voice, i would no longer be sophia. i am consistently speaking up and speaking out. i have very strong opinions and when i see something that i think is wrong, i can't help but to say something about it. my voice has gotten me into trouble more times than i can count, but i love it. i love my words, i love my ideas, and i wouldn't change it for the world. i simply couldn't live without it. maybe that means i am not strong enough to be able to live silently for so long, or maybe it means the opposite. 

10

i absolutely agree that easy reading comes from hard writing. it's extremely hard to formulate thoughts that people are going to be able to identify with and then translate them to paper. if you are able to write something that can absorb someone completely, make them feel like they're not even reading, you're doing something right. i don't think everyone can do it, either. i think it takes a special type of person to write something that your mind just glides over, that you aren't even aware that every word, every letter, was carefully crafted and formed just for this piece. you aren't reading that piece, you're feeling it. there are some books that i read where i physically speak them out loud just so i can feel the words in my mouth, slipping off of my tongue. that's the kind of work i aspire to write.