Monday, September 26, 2011

An evening with the Phenomenal Dr. Maya Angelou

Hello friends,

This post is not my typical health related posts, but I had to share after an awesome evening with the Phenomenal Dr. Maya Angelou this past weekend. She fed my soul and uplifted my spirit.

Its not everyday that you get to meet the force that is Dr. Angelou in person. So, when I got the opportunity to listen to her speak, I grabbed/pounced/jumped at the opportunity.

Who is Dr. Angelou?
 Dr. Maya Angelou is one of the most renowned and influential voices of our time. She is a celebrated poet, novelist, educator, producer, actress, filmmaker, historian, and civil rights activist. Dr. Angelou has served on two presidential committees, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Arts, the Lincoln Medal and has received three Grammy Awards. In addition, she holds 60 honorary doctorates....Yes 60!. More about this phenomenal educator can be found on her website HERE.
Photo credit: http://mayaangelou.com
  Dr. Angelou's wisdom is awe-inspiring. She said many things, but the one quote that resonated with me was the quote by a former African slave in 160 BC who became one of the most famous playwright in the Roman Empire, Plubius Terrence. The quote reads:
 "I am human, and nothing human can be alien to me"
 According to Dr. Angelou, if we live by this quote, we can master anything that we set ourselves to do. You can be the next CEO of company X, You can open your own business, You can be that A student, You can learn and master another language or several other languages (Dr. Angelou has master French, Italian, Spanish, Arabic & Fanti). Basically, most of what we want to achieve has already been done before by other humans; therefore, You, a human can do it as well. If its not alien to them, then it can't be alien to You. Isn't that great advice...She is full of wisdom.Words have power and the quote above has tremendous power.

Another quote, which recurred throughout her talk was: "Be willing to be someone's rainbow in their clouds." Basically, inspire others to do well, to do better, because, "A good student, can make a mediocre teacher great!" 

Sure enough when I came out of that auditorium, I felt renewed, motivated and in some ways in control of my destiny. I can't really explain it. The night was great, because this woman is Phenomenal!

 P.S. Dr. Angelou is so funny. She had us laughing from beginning to end.

2 comments:

  1. So jealous you got to see her speak! I love Maya Angelou, she's truly inspirational.

    x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jenny..OMG. I love your blog...Thanks for taking time to peruse through mine as well...She is truly an inspiration. It was such a humbling experience.

    ReplyDelete

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