Anyway, I still have no shame in buying used books! Yesterday I purchased 4 books (two of which are hardcover) for $7. I found: Maya Angelou's Even the Stars Look Lonesome, Jamaica Kincaid's Lucy, Barbara Kingsolver's The Bean Trees, and Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Needless to say I am ecstatic, and Jay was pretty bummed to see that I was paying more attention to my new finds than him. He finally tore my eyes away from Maya Angelou's book to watch Four Christmases, which we both decided was not really good, but fine enough in the spirit of the holidays.
Anyway, I wanted to write a bit about Maya's book, since this is one of the first books I have ever read by her (yes I already finished it!) I have listened to her on tape before, but not actually read many of her works. This book is a continuation of a reflection from her set of essays called, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now, and it is divided into short chapters/reflections on her life experiences. I would like to highlight some quotes that personally stuck out for me from her work.
An African proverb: "The ax forgets. The tree remembers" (17).
"Another proverb that provided inspiration for a Nigerian cloth design is 'If you do not appreciate the things you have, other people will treat them with contempt'" (69).
I love this final passage to her "Art in Africa" chapter, it really connects to the recent conversations I have been having in class about art and community as well as the recent development of a women's creative circle among some of my lady friends from college and myself:
Whether or not the arrangement of lines and colors has remembered roots
in ancient maxims, there is a great aesthetic sense that animates the crafts of
painting, weaving, dyeing cloth, and pot-making. Women, using ordinary clay
found in riverbeds and employing their hands as paintbrushes, produce a
powerful vehicle for visual pleasure. Their crafts are also public statements of
their personal creeds.
The simple materials are forged into plastic designs that will be as temporary
as the length of time between rainfalls, and with no lasting staying power
against the insistent sun. These artists, however do not seem to need promises
of longevity, nor do they exhibit a craving for notice out of the ordinary. In
fact, one of the most notable characteristics of house painting among West
African women is the camaraderie found among women sharing the creation of
design. Family members and those attached by friendship often join together in
the industry of decoration. When they do, it is agreed that the principal owner
will contribute the major design, but it is also expected that every woman will
bring something of her own to add to the overall effect.
Thus art made by all can be enjoyed by all. The African saying is proved true:
Sea never dry.(Even the Stars Look Lonesome, 70).
"If it is true that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, isn't it also true a society is only as healthy as its sickest citizen and only as wealthy as its most deprived?" (108)
"Great art belongs to all people, all the time--indeed it is made for the people by the people" (130).
"We need art to live fully and to grow healthy. Without it we are dry husks drifting aimlessly on every ill wind, our futures are without promise and our present without grace" (133).
From her last chapter which shares the same title as the book, I felt a special message that needs to be written down more fully to absorb the context of her wisdom. Maya describes a person she knew who was leading a life similar to that of the Prodigal Son. Here are the last 5 paragraphs of her book:
In the biblical story, the prodigal son risked and for a time lost everything he
had because of an uncontrollable hunger for company. First, he asked for and
received his inheritance, not caring that his father, from whom he would
normally inherit, was still alive; not considering that by demanding his
portion, he might be endangering the family's financial position. The parable
relates that after he took his fortune, he went off into a far country and there
he found company. Wasteful living conquered his loneliness and riotous
companions conquered his restlessness. For a while he was fulfilled, but he lost
favor in the eyes of his friends. As his money began to disappear he began to
lip down the steep road to social oblivion.
His condition became so reduced that he began to have to feed the hogs. Then
it further worsened until he began to eat with the hogs. It is never lonesome in
Babylon. Of course, one needs to examine who--or in the prodigal son's case,
what--he has for company.
Many people remind me of the journey of the prodigal son. Many believe that
they need company at any cost, and certainly if a thing is desired at any
cost, it will be obtained at all costs.
We need to remember and to teach our children that solitude can be a much-to-be- desired condition. Not only is it acceptable to be alone, at times it is
positively to be wished for.
It is in the interludes between being in company that we talk to ourselves. In
the silence we listen to ourselves. Then we ask questions of ourselves. We
describe ourselves to ourselves, and in the quietude we may even hear the voice
of God. (144-145).
Whether or not you are a believer of God, I feel that the message in her "Even the Stars Look Lonesome" chapter really empowers us to take some time to be alone with ourselves. Only during this time can we truly make room for self-reflection and self-creation.
On all of those notes, have an artful day and make sure to take time this weekend to be alone with the stars.
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