Our Deepest Fear
By: Marianne Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
Does not serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
We were born to make manifest
The glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us;
It's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we're liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
Biography:
Marianne Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is a spiritual activist, author and lecturer. She attended (but did not graduate from) Pomona College in Claremont, California.
Williamson’s philosophy adopts a new thought approach to spirituality. She incorporates both established Christianity and Judaism .She also promotes the views of Zen Buddhism such as the belief that one must empty their mind through enlightenment to truly find God.
Thesis:
Marianne Williamson's inspires her audience to strive for spirituality and self-fulfillment using many metaphors, imagery and insightful themes.
1) Why might someone be afraid to be great?
2) Do you need failure to succeed? Explain?
3) This poem employs many metaphors, how are they used?
4) Marianne Williamson says in the third stanza “We are all meant to shine,
As children do.” What do you think she means by this?
5) How does the poem use imagery?
6) What do you think the overall theme is?
I agree with Keenan and what he said about being great and everyone competing to be number one. You might be affraid to speak if you are number one becauase you dont want to say the wrong thing and give up your spot as number one. Other people may feel that they cannot compete with the person who is number one due to their ideas seeming not as great and therefore they feel small and insignificant.
ReplyDeleteI do think you need failure to succeed because if you never fail, you become cocky and that gets you nowhere, but if you fail a couple times, you leaen to do things better and you also learn other ways to do things in order to succeed.
A wonderful piece of rhetoric. Great job David. You should lead the class more often in discussions. I agree with evereything that was said in class. :)
ReplyDeleteOkay seriously though this was something I felt that sparked a great conversation. The questions were well thought out and thought provoking. I think that this a poem because of the rhymes scheme and the poetic devices that were employed.
I think the overall message is something along the lines of being the best you can be and not concerning yourself with others (wisdom). As well as being a positive influence on others through your actions.
Great job :)
Lots of class participation. Keep it up! :)
Good job David!~ :)
ReplyDeleteI should have said this during the discussion but... here it is.
To answer number 5, the strongest use of imagery to me is in stanza three:
"Your playing small
Does not serve the world."
When I read this, I see one person compared to the whole gigantic world; a little spec on the Earth's surface. If this person decides to keep their feelings to themself and not share their great ideas, they'll remain a little spec that isn't recognized. However, if they strive for success and make their name known, they'll encourage others to do the same and their success will spread and become much larger than that original little "thing" that they started off with.
Thanks for this Linda, Keenan and Allie. All three of you have managed to consider some of the initial questions that were asked and also to contribute your individual takes on the poem.
ReplyDeleteKeenan, I'm more inclined to regard this as a poem than ever before...
Allie... I wonder how long a person can maintain the number one spot without taking a risk every now and again.
Linda, thank you for making me think about the little "specks" that need only to step forward to be recognised.
btw its Ali (;
ReplyDeleteGreat Job on your presentation today! <:-) , I agree with what Linda, Keenan , and the people that answered David's questions said about the poem. I think the last two stanzas of the poem , " As we're liberated from our own fear, / Our presence automatically liberates others." means that the things we do can be criticized by others , so most of the times we don't want to carry out the action that you want to do such as, telling people that you did not hit the car and put the blame on someone else so that it makes you look like a good driver.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this poem, David. Great choice!
ReplyDelete1) Why might someone be afraid to be great?
I agree with what Ali said about people competing with you to become number one. When you are in a position of power or importance, people are constantly watching and listening to you. If you are the person that everyone looks up to, you wouldn't want to say or do something wrong or embarrassing because there would always be someone there waiting to see your flaws, and possibly point them out.
6) What do you think the overall theme is?
I think that the overall theme of the poem is to not let your fears keep you from going after you goals and achieving great things, because we all deserve to feel special and accomplished.
In response to question #1, I find that if someone has the ability to be great, they may not always want to show it to others because they're afraid of being disliked. It's in our human nature to envy the talents of others and people may be afraid of showing their own greatness due to that fact. I also agree with Ali and Madison about not wanting to disappoint those that think highly of your greatness and have high expectations for you. I think it all depends on the person specifically, but all of the ideas mentioned make a lot of sense in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of poem, David. :) Good job!