Maya Angelou Reflection

3.)  Angelou says she doesn't even like talking about her bad dreams because she feels as if it gives them too much power. I don't necessarily agree with this because I feel like sometimes you need to talk about the things you are dealing with and the things that are not so pleasant in your life in order to help yourself get through them. Sometimes speaking out is the only way to deal with your problems and if that gives your problems too much power then I feel like that is okay, because that power is only temporary. Once the problem is dealt with then there will be no power left to the problem, you will have all the power because you would have dealt with it instead of just covering it up and hiding it.

5.)  Angelou went through a major trauma at age seven that caused her to go completely mute for five years. I cannot even begin to imagine being completely silent for five years, not saying a word, and only listening. I'm sure I would learn so much;
I would learn to pay attention to peoples' body language more and their actions, rather than focusing so much on what I'm going to reply to them in response after listening. I talk too much and voice my opinion too much to be mute for that long. I think the longest I have ever gone without talking is 15 minutes max. I am an extrovert and am very social, so I feel like taking away my voice would be like taking away half of my personality.

7.)  Angelou often said she had "total recall" of the events that happened in her life, I consider myself to be very much like Maya Angelou in this way. I have a very good memory and I think this is because I am a person that pays close attention to detail; I like to remember the little things. I often notice that I have better recall of the times in my life when I was the happiest or when I was the saddest, but not as much recall of the times when I was angry. I have found that as the years pass by I often forget what I was so angry about in the first place. But I feel like you never really forget a deep, true sadness and you never forget how your heart hurt so much. I feel like our minds also choose to remember the happiest of moments in our lives because it is naturally human nature to want to be happy.

9.)  Angelou plays solitaire with a deck of cards when she needs to occupy her "small mind" and focus in order to get something done. I often notice that when I really need to focus I need to be in a quiet room that is very calming. I can listen to soft music, but often get distracted when it comes to listening to loud, harsh music while trying to focus on a task in order to get something done. My biggest distraction when it comes to getting something done is talking. I am a very social person who likes to talk and this often gets me into trouble when I am working in a room with other people. I often find that this is why I do a lot of my class work at home as homework because I have a hard time focusing in class because I get to caught up in talking to other people.