Just Let Me Sing

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer,

it sings because it has a song.

~ Maya Angelou

Side Note: I want to first state that Maya Angelou is one of my favorite poets of all time and I constantly pick up the book I have of her collected poetry and read it often.

I love this quote. It’s been in my notes on my phone for the past six months and I always turn to it, because it speaks to me. It wasn’t until recently that I finally understood why it spoke to me in the way it did.

It seems so simple, but sometimes I like to over complicate things so I don’t always catch the simple. The second part of the quote just hit me the other day, because it doesn’t answer but has a song to sing; it has something to say; it doesn’t have to stay quiet and only give answers.

How often do we not sing because we have a song? Or in other words, how often do we not speak when we have something to say? Do we just stay silent?

I have nothing against silence, because sometimes silence is the best answer, but we are not giving an answer now, are we? We are saying something. We are not just staying silent anymore.

If you haven’t gathered by now, I can be a blunt person. With being a blunt person comes with the fault of crossing the line of being arrogant. I will admit that I, being a young person, am learning how not to be arrogant and when to stay quiet. It’s a hard lesson, but I don’t want to be someone unteachable or just a pain to be around. At the same time though, I don’t want to be a doormat and not have any opinions.

The reason this quote is reaching me now is because I wasn’t ready to learn this lesson six months ago. It was just a quote that justified my reason of being blunt because I wasn’t ready to admit that I was just trying to answer questions and not forming a well thought out thought. I now understand that I should speak when I having something to say, but it should be within reason. I can be blunt, but not at the expense of trying to prove a point instead to use it as a tool to help.

Sometimes time helps with understanding a quote at a much deeper level. A short simple quote may at first seem simple, but it is always much deeper than what it is shows. Doesn’t mean it is complex, just deeper. And sometimes you aren’t ready for the true meaning when you first come across it and need a new surrounding to better understand it.