Voices: Silver Lining: A Letter to You

Thankfully, in the middle of our feeling disturbed or bothered or anxious or stagnant there is a silver lining to every situation that will bring all things into clarity. Recently, when my mind felt like it was being scattered to the four winds, I found the silver lining in one of the "happiest places on Earth": the bookstore.

I went to Barnes & Noble after work one Friday and gathered as many books as I could hold. Books I've wanted to read for a long time but never got around to. Books I've fingered and thumbed through over and over just because of their pretty covers. I had collected Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth, Andrea Levy's Fruit of the Lemon, and lastly, Maya Angelou's Letter to My Daughter. It is this book that dug a little hole in my mind and nestled itself in the crevices of my thoughts and whispered a secret: you are human and you are free to live with wonder in your eye, courage in your spirit, and unabashed love in your heart. All of which are virtues that sometimes take longer to manifest themselves, but are nevertheless always present.

With her trademark sense of cool, Maya Angelou reveals her own life lessons with a soft yet unshakable voice. She's incredibly candid with her personal stories of being beaten by a lover, having a child out of wedlock at a young age, knowing her mother's unconditional love, and learning that being a philanthropist does not always equal being charitable.

My personal favorite was a short anecdote about how Angelou experienced her own shortcomings in humility. In a chapter entitled "Senegal", Angelou speaks of how she ventured to Senegal to visit a couple who operated in the upper echelon of the artistic and intellectual circles. She was the guest of honor in their home during a dinner party they had arranged. Angelou talks of how she walked among the dinner guests and made her way into a room that had a decadent carpet on the floor. Her mind flashed back to a woman she had known in previous years who would not allow her maids to walk on her good carpets, declaring that if anyone is going to wear down her good carpet it will be her family and friends. Angelou commences to walk across this beautiful carpet belonging to her Senegalese friends, showing that a carpet is meant to be stepped on. The guests look at her and offer hospitable smiles. Angelou finally steps away from the carpet after her attempts did not encourage more people to join her. The maids come in and roll up the carpet she had walked on, but they replace it with another--one more beautiful this time. The maids then begin placing silverware and plates and decadent dinner entrees onto the carpet, and Ms. Angelou begins to feel her face and neck burning with embarrassment realizing she has just walked across the dinner table. She offers this timeless piece of advice to women and girls everywhere:

"The epitome of utter sophistication is simplicity. In an unfamiliar culture it is wise to offer no innovations, no suggestions, or lessons."

Letters to My Daughter offers poetry and prose from one of the most giving and candid literary figures to stir up the richness inside every woman. She treats your ills with laughter, stimulates your mind with questions, and fills your heart with joy knowing that you are armed with a slightly stronger arsenal to keep you encouraged in the world. It is, among other things, a book about values and about knowing when to fight for yourself. It is also about about being daring in the face of adversity, lessons in judging others and measuring ourselves against pillars we were not meant to.

The following is a picture of a video clip that Amazon.com has provided of Maya Angelou introducing her book. If you click the following picture, you'll be directed to the video.