The greatest masters often lead the way for those that follow. It is an honor to be notated as a Master of your craft. Most often many students look for a guide to model their personal trek to seek perfection and become the best at what they do. However, to look at those prospects also offer life lessons and inspirational moments that often help propel the student, offering great ambition. To become a master takes time, effort, focus, and dedication.
Maya Angelou is my chosen master mentor! I was inspired by her the very first time I heard her voice. There was strength, confidence, boldness, and intelligence that resided with her vocal expression. I identify with Maya Angelou more than any other being. I believe we have similar crafts and share similar life experiences. She has always been a peculiar individual, and her journey to success and mastery shows that. In this paper, I will reveal Maya's creative task, strategies, and breakthrough according to the text, Mastery, by Robert Greene. We will see how Maya ‘s childhood reflects and ties into the journey as well as her ability to cope, triumph and travail through many unforeseen tribulations that arose. I will compare Maya's journey with that of John Coltrane's and see how the two correlate, if at all.
Maya Angelou was born into the world as Marguerite Johnson was a renown author, poet, director, civil rights activist, scriptwriter, educator, actress, singer dancer and much more. She got the nickname Maya from one of her older brothers. As a child, she experienced a very traumatic encounter. She was raped at the age of seven by her mother's boyfriend. Shortly after, she moved in with her father's mother. Her rapist was convicted and sentenced. However, he was released and later found dead. Maya thought because she had spoken his name to her grandfather that her voice killed him, so she stopped communicating verbally for five years. This would be the catalyst towards a reflection of what we know as her most significant works of literature. I believe Maya's memoirs were the beginning of her creative task. She had become obsessed with a way to communicate her childhood thoughts, experiences, and emotions. The first book to establish her voice was ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.' It was published in 1969 when she was 41 years of age and became the 1st nonfiction bestseller by an African America woman. In this memoir, she told her childhood story, so it was realistic, and Maya had gained enough knowledge, wisdom, and skill set within her craft of writing to pull this off. This book has now become one of the greatest in American Literature. It is already a bold and courageous move to tell of one's traumatic experience such as rape. Maya took advantage of the opportunity, and it became the spark of many more great memoirs.
As far as her creative strategies Maya had what seemed to be a great ability even in her younger years. During those five years of silence, she read as many books as she could from the white library to the black library. She memorized plays, sonnets, and poems by the likes of William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe, Paul Laurence Dunbar plus so many more. Remembering the literature allowed her to gain a new language and way of speaking. Once she decided to talk, she did very boldly and profoundly. Maya's creative strategies lied within her embracing all the cultures of her creativity. She danced, sang, wrote, etc. She did not limit herself when it came to expression. She also began to walk in her spirit of activism and truth. As a teen, she became the first African American streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Maya was determined to be the best in everything! Maya married a Greek sailor taking on the name Angelou, but the marriage was short-lived. She gave birth to a son, and that began another trek of her journey. Maya ventured into dance to help support her and her young son Guy. She embraced her creativity in dance, song, and poetry. They were all the loves of her life. She realized that there were so many ways to express and get her point across.
Maya had always been a creative being with an original mind. Her emotional pitfalls seemed few and far in between. As she joined the writer's guild in New York in 1959, she was able to gain greater exposure and connections which allowed her access to the civil rights movement. It seems that Maya lived with the awareness of Grandiosity, Dependency, Complacency, Conservatism, Impatience, and Inflexibility (Greene, 2012, Mastery). However, none of those characteristics were a threat to her success. Like Coltrane, Maya had an authentic voice which was cultivated for years as she read the works of others. It gave birth to the expression of her own words and actions written and performed. Her and Coltrane shared the commonality of studying others and gaining a new language from that in-depth education. In their years of intense apprenticeship, they both emerged with a more authentic sound, and their uniqueness had come alive (Greene, 2012, Mastery).
Maya's life experiences often thrust her into positions of power. When Maya fell in love with a South African activist, Vusumzi Make they moved to Cairo, Egypt but soon separated after that. She then relocated to Ghana where she became an editor for an English weekly. She worked as a journalist for a time and made a connection with Malcolm X while there. After four years she returned to America to work with Malcolm, and two days later he was killed (Augustine, 2016). After being devastated by Malcolm's death, she returned to singing where she began to pour out her soul through song. Again, another example of Maya using a creative avenue to express her emotions.
Unlike Coltrane, Maya was able to spread her creativity throughout many avenues; Dancing, Singing, Poetry, Literature. Coltrane's ability to concentrate solely on the understanding of the music and conveying it into a sound of his own using the same elements (instruments) is entirely different from Maya incorporating her craft into song, dance, poetry, (Maya Angelou, 2001, Biography).
Maya Angelou continued on her path of greatness and was awarded a plethora of honorable notables, recognized as one of America's finest, and served in many historical moments such as presidential inaugurations.
Her tenacity to be bold and stand for her people even within her expressions of art made her famous. She inspired many and encouraged most. Just her journey of life and quest to be the best in everything she did is enough to motivate any true original mind creative being.
Maya's legacy will live on forever because not only did she hone her craft and become a master; she left a trail for others to follow with a blueprint. Although each of us will have our path to travel, when becoming a master, you will always need a teacher. When Maya Angelou reached her peak, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of freedom in 2008 by President Obama. What an honor to be acknowledged over many years with so many prestigious recognition. I believe the legacy one leaves behind shows forth of the actual quest they made all along. In essence, when Maya began to reach individuals through her craft, her breakthroughs arrived. From childhood triumphs to social activist moments and official acknowledgments Maya could have never predicted her life would turn out in such a way.
However, she always strived for the best and let nothing deter her, distract her or, discourage her. As the same for Coltrane. He never knew after his death people would look upon him as a legend of Jazz, just as Charlie Parker. At the moment all that mattered was focusing on the craft and perfecting it with creative grace and satisfaction. I believe Maya and Coltrane succeeded in this area and will continue to be legends in their own right with all the notable mentions they deserve. The secret of becoming a master is allowing the flow of creativity and focus never leave you. It is possible for us all to achieve it. All of humanity was created to be masters!
References
Augustine, Felix. "The Story About Maya Angelou That You Have Never Heard in Her Own Words." YouTube, YouTube, 17 Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STfuNskGtU. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STfuNskGtU
Bavanasi, D. (2014). Maya Angelou: A Multi-faceted Poet. Language In India, 14(8), 26-31.
Greene, R. (2012). Mastery. New York, NY: Viking Publishing by the Penguin Group
Maya Angelou. (2001). Biography, 5(12), 77.
Maya Angelou is my chosen master mentor! I was inspired by her the very first time I heard her voice. There was strength, confidence, boldness, and intelligence that resided with her vocal expression. I identify with Maya Angelou more than any other being. I believe we have similar crafts and share similar life experiences. She has always been a peculiar individual, and her journey to success and mastery shows that. In this paper, I will reveal Maya's creative task, strategies, and breakthrough according to the text, Mastery, by Robert Greene. We will see how Maya ‘s childhood reflects and ties into the journey as well as her ability to cope, triumph and travail through many unforeseen tribulations that arose. I will compare Maya's journey with that of John Coltrane's and see how the two correlate, if at all.
Maya Angelou was born into the world as Marguerite Johnson was a renown author, poet, director, civil rights activist, scriptwriter, educator, actress, singer dancer and much more. She got the nickname Maya from one of her older brothers. As a child, she experienced a very traumatic encounter. She was raped at the age of seven by her mother's boyfriend. Shortly after, she moved in with her father's mother. Her rapist was convicted and sentenced. However, he was released and later found dead. Maya thought because she had spoken his name to her grandfather that her voice killed him, so she stopped communicating verbally for five years. This would be the catalyst towards a reflection of what we know as her most significant works of literature. I believe Maya's memoirs were the beginning of her creative task. She had become obsessed with a way to communicate her childhood thoughts, experiences, and emotions. The first book to establish her voice was ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.' It was published in 1969 when she was 41 years of age and became the 1st nonfiction bestseller by an African America woman. In this memoir, she told her childhood story, so it was realistic, and Maya had gained enough knowledge, wisdom, and skill set within her craft of writing to pull this off. This book has now become one of the greatest in American Literature. It is already a bold and courageous move to tell of one's traumatic experience such as rape. Maya took advantage of the opportunity, and it became the spark of many more great memoirs.
As far as her creative strategies Maya had what seemed to be a great ability even in her younger years. During those five years of silence, she read as many books as she could from the white library to the black library. She memorized plays, sonnets, and poems by the likes of William Shakespeare and Edgar Allen Poe, Paul Laurence Dunbar plus so many more. Remembering the literature allowed her to gain a new language and way of speaking. Once she decided to talk, she did very boldly and profoundly. Maya's creative strategies lied within her embracing all the cultures of her creativity. She danced, sang, wrote, etc. She did not limit herself when it came to expression. She also began to walk in her spirit of activism and truth. As a teen, she became the first African American streetcar conductor in San Francisco. Maya was determined to be the best in everything! Maya married a Greek sailor taking on the name Angelou, but the marriage was short-lived. She gave birth to a son, and that began another trek of her journey. Maya ventured into dance to help support her and her young son Guy. She embraced her creativity in dance, song, and poetry. They were all the loves of her life. She realized that there were so many ways to express and get her point across.
Maya had always been a creative being with an original mind. Her emotional pitfalls seemed few and far in between. As she joined the writer's guild in New York in 1959, she was able to gain greater exposure and connections which allowed her access to the civil rights movement. It seems that Maya lived with the awareness of Grandiosity, Dependency, Complacency, Conservatism, Impatience, and Inflexibility (Greene, 2012, Mastery). However, none of those characteristics were a threat to her success. Like Coltrane, Maya had an authentic voice which was cultivated for years as she read the works of others. It gave birth to the expression of her own words and actions written and performed. Her and Coltrane shared the commonality of studying others and gaining a new language from that in-depth education. In their years of intense apprenticeship, they both emerged with a more authentic sound, and their uniqueness had come alive (Greene, 2012, Mastery).
Maya's life experiences often thrust her into positions of power. When Maya fell in love with a South African activist, Vusumzi Make they moved to Cairo, Egypt but soon separated after that. She then relocated to Ghana where she became an editor for an English weekly. She worked as a journalist for a time and made a connection with Malcolm X while there. After four years she returned to America to work with Malcolm, and two days later he was killed (Augustine, 2016). After being devastated by Malcolm's death, she returned to singing where she began to pour out her soul through song. Again, another example of Maya using a creative avenue to express her emotions.
Unlike Coltrane, Maya was able to spread her creativity throughout many avenues; Dancing, Singing, Poetry, Literature. Coltrane's ability to concentrate solely on the understanding of the music and conveying it into a sound of his own using the same elements (instruments) is entirely different from Maya incorporating her craft into song, dance, poetry, (Maya Angelou, 2001, Biography).
Maya Angelou continued on her path of greatness and was awarded a plethora of honorable notables, recognized as one of America's finest, and served in many historical moments such as presidential inaugurations.
Her tenacity to be bold and stand for her people even within her expressions of art made her famous. She inspired many and encouraged most. Just her journey of life and quest to be the best in everything she did is enough to motivate any true original mind creative being.
Maya's legacy will live on forever because not only did she hone her craft and become a master; she left a trail for others to follow with a blueprint. Although each of us will have our path to travel, when becoming a master, you will always need a teacher. When Maya Angelou reached her peak, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of freedom in 2008 by President Obama. What an honor to be acknowledged over many years with so many prestigious recognition. I believe the legacy one leaves behind shows forth of the actual quest they made all along. In essence, when Maya began to reach individuals through her craft, her breakthroughs arrived. From childhood triumphs to social activist moments and official acknowledgments Maya could have never predicted her life would turn out in such a way.
However, she always strived for the best and let nothing deter her, distract her or, discourage her. As the same for Coltrane. He never knew after his death people would look upon him as a legend of Jazz, just as Charlie Parker. At the moment all that mattered was focusing on the craft and perfecting it with creative grace and satisfaction. I believe Maya and Coltrane succeeded in this area and will continue to be legends in their own right with all the notable mentions they deserve. The secret of becoming a master is allowing the flow of creativity and focus never leave you. It is possible for us all to achieve it. All of humanity was created to be masters!
References
Augustine, Felix. "The Story About Maya Angelou That You Have Never Heard in Her Own Words." YouTube, YouTube, 17 Feb. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STfuNskGtU. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STfuNskGtU
Bavanasi, D. (2014). Maya Angelou: A Multi-faceted Poet. Language In India, 14(8), 26-31.
Greene, R. (2012). Mastery. New York, NY: Viking Publishing by the Penguin Group
Maya Angelou. (2001). Biography, 5(12), 77.
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