An Interview with Dr. Maya Angelou

We know that we want to feel appreciated, listened to, cared about, and respected.

An Interview with Dr. Maya Angelou

Small Mind and Big Mind – Maya Angelou uses a deck of playing cards to play solitaire when she is stuck on a piece of writing.  She says that her grandmother taught her the difference between her small mind and her big mind.  By distracting her small mind, she lets her big mind work.  This fits with what many creative people say about letting our subconscious mind do the heavy lifting.  It is a great reminder that our chattering monkey-mind often gets in the way.  Distracting ourselves may be a great way to hand over controls to a more powerful mind.  It is suggested that this mind may be universal; a kind of meta-consciousness.  I’m not sure, but it is at the least, very powerful.  Some people take naps, some play solitaire, others go for walks.  The trick is to distract the thinking mind just enough, to create some space between ourselves and the idea.  Then, without warning, the idea strikes like a bolt of lighting in the brain.   

1. Keeping a Creative Space – Maya Angelou keeps a hotel room ready for her to work in.  Environment is such an important aspect of the creative process.  She says when she steps into her hotel room; all her outside concerns fade to the background.  She can focus on her inner world.  She only brings a thesaurus, a dictionary, the bible, pens, a notepad, and playing cards.  Environment is a critical component of work. I think there is a lot to be said for consciously choosing the right working space.  Some people work best in coffee shops. Others, like Po Bronson, prefer to write in a tiny closet.    Environment is also one of the main parts of shaping, or changing, any behavior. If you want to cut back on ice cream, you shouldn’t keep any in your fridge.  If you want to be productive, find the space that works best for you.  Doing creative, productive, work requires that we find the right surroundings.      
2. Choose Your Words Carefully - The interviewer asked Maya Angelou if she got writer’s block.   Dr. Angelou said she doesn’t call it writer’s block.  She said that she believes words have power.  If she says she has writer’s block, her brain will comply.  So she doesn’t get writer’s block.  She does wait for ideas when she gets stuck.  She waits and waits and plays solitary.  She plays so much solitary that she’ll go through good decks of playing cards.  As described earlier, she’s waiting for her big brain to find a solution.  Everyone gets stuck.  Everyone struggles.  But choosing how we describe our challenges is a wise lesson.  
3. We Are All Energy – The interviewer asked, “Where do you get your energy?”  Maya Angelou is getting older, but she continues to write and teach.  Her reply was very interesting.  She said; we are all energy.  She works because she must work.  She owes it to her work; to her muse.  I really like this truth.  We really are all made of energy.  When we feel drained it is because we are doing work that is draining.  When we switch to work that energizes us, we recover our vitality.  Rest is also important.  But it is great to keep in mind the role energy plays on our body.   
4. We Are All People – Maya Angelou has lived in different countries around the world.  She was asked how she relates to people from different cultural backgrounds.  Dr. Angelou said that we are all people.  She said she’s not sure how she would relate to an elephant or a lion, but she knows how to relate to people.  People all want the same things.  We know that we want to feel appreciated, listened to, cared about, and respected.  On an even deeper level -Buddhists point out – we all want to avoid suffering and feel happiness.  Maya Angelou knows this.  She treats people as brothers and sisters from planet Earth.  Knowing that we all want to be treated well is empowering.  Acting on that knowledge is challenging.  Culture, ideas, and emotions fog this truth.  It is great to be reminded of our shared desires.  
5. Courage – Maya Angelou talks about developing courage.  She compares it to lifting a hundred pound bag of rice.  Instead of trying to lift a hundred pounds, it’s better to start lifting small bags.  Then gradually you can build up to heavier bags.  She says courage works the same way.  You begin with small acts of courage and build up to the larger acts.  I like this idea of building courage the way you build a muscle. “Do one thing every day that scares you.”  Love yourself and love your people.  We are all Humans.