In the family, writing wasn't anything anyone understood - being a writer in the real world? How could it be? We didn't have those mirrors.
Interpretation
Writing was not understood or valued within the speaker's family dynamics.
Jacqueline Woodson reflects on the struggles of being a writer in an environment where that profession is not seen as legitimate or understandable. The quote highlights the disconnect between the personal passion for writing and the familial lack of support or comprehension, suggesting a longing for validation and the desire for recognition of one’s artistic identity.
In practice
In a speech about pursuing one's passion, this quote can illustrate the barriers artists face in unappreciative environments.
'Brown Girl Dreaming' was a book I had a lot of doubts about - mainly, would this story be meaningful to anyone besides me? My editor, Nancy Paulsen, kept assuring me, but there were moments when I was in a really sad place with the story for so many reasons. It wasn't an easy book to write - emotionally, physically, or creatively.
In the midst of observing the world and coming to consciousness, I was becoming a writer, and what I wanted to put on the page were the stories of people who looked like me.
Sometimes you do have to laugh to keep from crying. And sometimes the world feels all right and good and kind of like it's becoming nice again around you. And you realize it, and realize how happy you are in it, and you just gotta laugh.
I don't want anyone to walk through the world feeling invisible ever again.
The strength of my mother is something I didn't pay attention to for so long. Here she was, this single mom, who was part of the Great Migration, who was part of a Jim Crow south, who said, 'I'm getting my kids out of here. I'm creating opportunities for these young people by any means necessary.'
I would have written 'Brown Girl Dreaming' if no one had ever wanted to buy it, if it went nowhere but inside a desk drawer that my own children pulled out one day to find a tool for survival, a symbol of how strong we are and how much we've come through.
My dad wasn't a power hitter, and I didn't think I'd be a power hitter because the person I wanted to be like was him, and he was the one that taught me to play the game.
Reading was a huge part of my life as a child - we were a family of storytellers.
All in all, 18 individuals from my family are missing, including my six brothers and my mother, my brothers' wives, my nephews and nieces.
One day you will do things for me that you hate. That is what it means to be family.
I felt like I needed to come to terms with the decision I'd made to let go of my family. What do you do when you want to be loyal to your family but you feel that loyalty to them is in conflict somehow with loyalty to yourself?
Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.