Maya Angelou's Questions and Answers

4: Angelou and many others suggest that dreams "tell the truth" about us. Do you think dreams reveal things about us that we may not realize or that others don't see? Can you recount a dream that revealed something about you that you were surprised, ashamed, terrified, etc. by?


         I believe that dreams have a way of showing us the truth, or the hidden part of us if you will. Dreams can open a part of your mind you never thought you had because they are so powerful. I think it goes without saying that I fully believe dreams tell the truth. In my opinion Dreams speak to us what we are to afraid to speak alone. They have no fear or the past or the future. I don't have  specific dream that I remember that had this effect on me but I know for a fact that I had a dream that changed how I thought and the actions I took.


7: Angelou says she often has "total recall" of events in her life. Are you a person who remembers everything or someone who remembers almost nothing? Which is better to be? Which periods or times in your life are clearest? Fuzziest? Do you have better recall of the times you consider happy or the ones you consider sad or embarrassing or uncomfortable or humorous?
        
          I am more the type of person that remembers almost everything. I remember every emotion I have ever felt, every thing that's ever happened to me i remember. I haven't figured out if its a goof thing or not. why would I want to remember all the bad things that have happened to me? but then again all those things shaped me into who I am. The times in my life that are most clearest are the times before sixth grade. I have a slight guess why but I remember everything. but even as I get older my memory grows. I tend to recall the painful memories the most, which probably inst the best thing for me to do but its how I am.


10: Angelou quotes Nathaniel West as saying, "Easy reading is damned hard writing" and says writing is "Just hard work, you know?" Do you agree with this? What is easiest and hardest to you about writing? Is writing hard work?


       Writing to me comes very naturally, I've never had to force my writing out (if its something I want to write) so in a way I am the devils advocate. If I have to write about something I have no will to write about then well yes, it is hard work. Being able to write fiction and come up with the perfect character and everything that fits to that person and their life is very difficult. But on the other hand if its poetry or just free writing it just flows from my mind out onto the paper. I will have written five full pages in a blink of an eye. to me writing is a gateway, I have never thought of it as hard work. It has always been my relaxation.


5: After going though a major life trauma at the age of seven, Angelou didn't talk for almost 5 years. Could you live this way? Do you talk too much or too little? What could you learn if you listened , more and spoke less? How could you grow as a person by speaking more?


      I never speak. I am a very quiet person, I always have so much to say but never use my voice to say it. If I listened more intently I would probably catch on to so many more things than I do. I would learn so much my brain couldn't handle it. If I spoke more I think I would be more outgoing, I really don't like people to know anything about me so naturally I don't speak. It would help me being shy and my stage fright too by forcing me to concur my fears.