She could walk through a lightning storm without being touched; grab a bolt of lightning in the palm of her hand; use the heat of lightning to start the kindling going under her medicine pot. She turned the moon into salve, the stars into swaddling cloth, and healed the wounds of every creature walking up on two or down on four.
Interpretation
The quote illustrates the power of creativity and transformation in healing and nurturing.
In this quote, Gloria Naylor paints a vivid picture of a character who possesses a magical ability to harness the elements of nature, namely lightning and celestial bodies, for the purpose of healing and nurturing all living beings. It reflects on the theme of empowerment through creativity, suggesting that just as one can wield nature's forces, individuals have the potential to create positive change and provide care in their own communities.
In practice
During a speech about the importance of creativity in education.
There is a problem in America. An Irish or Polish American can write a story and it's an American story. When a Black American writes a story, it's called a Black story. I take exception to that. Every artist has articulated to his own experience. The problem is that some people do not see Blacks as Americans.
Home. It's being new and old all rolled into one. Measuring your new against old friends, old ways, old places, Knowing that as long as the old survives, you can keep changing as much as you want without the nightmare of waking up to a total stranger.
Words themselves are innocuous; it is the consensus that gives them true power.
The music in his laughter had a way of rounding off the missing notes in her soul.
In the late '70s I started to search for the perfect sound - whatever that might be, before that I was mainly interested in drugs, insanity and the rock'n'roll lifestyle.
Which painting in the National Gallery would I save if there was a fire? The one nearest the door of course.
Dialogue is what a character's willing to share and reveal to another character, and the 90% they aren't willing to share is what I do for a living.
The arts are neglected because they are based on perception, and perception is disdained because it is not assumed to involve thought.
Remember you love writing. It wouldn’t be worth it if you didn’t. If the love fades, do what you need to and get it back.
Then I felt something inside me break and music began to pour out into the quiet. My fingers danced; intricate and quick they spun something gossamer and tremulous into the circle of light our fire had made. The music moved like a spiderweb stirred by a gentle breath, it changed like a leaf twisting as it falls to the ground, and it felt like three years Waterside in Tarbean, with a hollowness inside you and hands that ached from the bitter cold.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.