We have to embrace the good over the bad. That has to be one's personal project.
Interpretation
Embracing positivity is a personal commitment to focus on the good aspects of life rather than the negative ones.
This quote by Yusef Komunyakaa emphasizes the importance of consciously choosing to focus on the positive aspects of life, despite the challenges and negativity that may arise. It suggests that maintaining a positive outlook is not just a passive occurrence, but an active personal project that requires dedication and effort.
In practice
During a motivational speech to inspire resilience in your audience.
Students often have such a lofty idea of what a poem is, and I want them to realize that their own lives are where the poetry comes from. The most important things are to respect the language; to know the classical rules, even if only to break them; and to be prepared to edit, to revise, to shape.
It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.
I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most of it irresponsible in its overt violence and commercialization of anger. As artists, we believe we can will action through language. If that's the case, we have to take responsibility for what we say.
I'm uncomfortable with the focus on the poet and not on the poem.
Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, what poetry has taught me is the fact that I need to embrace mystery in order to be completely human.
Tonight I feel the stars are out_x000D_ to use me for target practice.
You never really learn much from hearing yourself talk.
People that are orthodox when they are young are in danger of being middle-aged all their lives.
Busy people all make the same mistake: they assume they are short on time, which of course, they are. But time is not their only scarce resource. They are also short on bandwidth. By bandwidth I mean basic cognitive resources - psychologists call them working memory and executive control - that we use in nearly every activity.
You must not for one instant give up the effort to build new lives for yourselves. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. This is not an easy struggle. Indeed, it may be the most difficult task in the world, for opening the door to your own life is, in the end, more difficult than opening the doors to the mysteries of the universe.
Though I can't change what happened, I can choose how to react. And I don't want to spend the rest of my life being bitter and locked up.
Every idea occurs while you are working. If you are sitting around waiting for inspiration, you could sit there forever.
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