So much of growing up is an unbearable waiting. A constant longing for another time. Another season.
Interpretation
Growing up often involves a painful sense of longing for what comes next in life.
Sonia Sanchez's quote captures the essence of the challenges of growing up, highlighting the emotional struggle that many face during this transformative period. It reflects the feeling of impatience and yearning for the future, underscoring how this 'unbearable waiting' can overshadow the present moment, leaving individuals caught between their current realities and their dreams of what is to come.
In practice
In a speech about adolescence, one might use this quote to illustrate the emotional challenges young people face.
I still hear you humming, Mama. The colour of your song calls me home. The colour of your words saying, Let her be. She got a right to be different. She gonna stumble on herself one of these days. Just let the child be. And I be, Mama.
The black artist is dangerous. Black art controls the 'Negro's' reality, negates negative influences, and creates positive images.
I shall become, I shall become a collector of me. And put meat on my soul.
And I cried⦠for all of the women who stretched their bodies for civilizations, only to find ruins.
Just try walking very slowly, and you will be surprised - a new quality of awareness starts happening in the body. Eat slowly, and you will be surprised - there is great relaxation. Do everything slowly... just to change the old pattern, just to come out of old habits.
Climate change, the spread of weapons of mass destruction. None of those can really effectively be dealt with by any one country acting alone and even the United States can't handle them alone. China needs to be part of the game on that.
Everything you now do is something you have chosen to do. Some people don't want to believe that. But if you're over age twenty-one, your life is what you're making of it. To change your life, you need to change your priorities
Now, having seen the differences between where you are and where you want to be, begin to change-consciously change-your thoughts, words, and actions to match your grandest vision.
May you have a strong foundation when the winds of change shift...and may you be forever young.
The clock has been turned back on racial progress in America, though scarcely anyone seems to notice. All eyes are fixed on people like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey who have defied the odds and achieved great power, wealth, and fame.
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