CREATIVE WRITING: May 2008

Think about your own early reading history and write up to 500 words about books that were important to you and why. If you were deprived of books for any reason, write about that and what it meant to you. Give your writing an appropriate title.

It’s never easy to start to read a book and an avid reader is never born overnight. Sometimes I ponder upon what has change me, the way I think and my beliefs. Something that made me crave for books at all times, and that somewhat which made me what I am today. There’s always a light that guides us to right path or shows us what is right and wrong. That light can be our family, friends or school. But for me, it was this book.

OPRAH WINFREY: I DON’T BELIEVE IN FAILURE

This African-American biography shares the real story of Oprah’s life from the beginning right up till now. She has had a hard childhood where she was poor and her parents stayed separately and she had to split her time between her mother in Milwaukee and father in Nashville. She was also raped and abused by her family and friends in Milwaukee. She then moved with her dad when she was secretly pregnant, who helped her to rebuild her life when her week old baby died. Winfrey then worked her way out to college and became the first female African-American news anchor in Nashville. It has always been a debate that the blacks are given lower priority compare to the whites. Oprah has also once said that she doesn’t believe in sexism and race discrimination, where if practice, will lead to destruction of human kind.

She then later on took over the show, AM Chicago which eventually became The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was rated the best in viewer ship, and from there, her career built ranging from acting in Steven Spielberg’s movie “The Color Purple” which earned her Oscar nomination to opening up a South-African girls school. She has also produce an inspiring movie called "The Great Debaters". It's a movie of a life time!! This budding charm is an inspiration to everyone. Her life story is exciting and inspiring and should be shared and read by people who wish to succeed against all odds.

This book is important to me as it was the only book which made me a wiser person I am today and more mature in my decisions. Her stories of success and not giving up in life makes me have doubt in my own judgments and that made me open my eyes to what I can be if I work harder and determine to do so. I am what I am by what I believe and I definitely can’t be what I need to be by remaining what I am. It changed the way I contemplate about people and circumstances. I used to laugh at society with incapability’s and thought that they can’t do anything, but deep down I knew that I was as uncharacteristic as they as, because I didn’t do anything that I could be proud of. For the fact that those people are physically incapable and yet they strive to make ends meet, and me, who can make wonders, but still struggling to find my identity. I use to give up even at slightest things, even at circumstances which can be solved in minutes; I procrastinate just so that I can be leisurely free.

This book has changed me in a way that I learned how to appreciate people around us and a person is always a person no matter how small he is. There’s a saying goes “you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover” and that is exactly what I refrain myself from doing. I’ve met so many people of many walks of life, of many experiences and status, and they never fail to amaze me. There’s also some who brags about their class and fame and about things that they do and contribution to the society, but at the end of the day, there will be a moment where they’ll ask themselves if what they are doing is what they desire. Different people have different personality and through this book, I learned to appreciate each of them. There’s some who are quiet, but that doesn’t mean they are unintelligent and not aware of surroundings. These people are more introspective and they tend to out do the rest. There are also some who are relatively noisy and bossy, but that doesn’t make them any intelligent or stand out of crowd. People often choose the latter group to mix around with and at some point they lose their character and identity, because they were too busy trying to fit in. I struggled with this phenomenon once. I tried so hard to blend with people whom I thought was popular and all-so-wow, but later I realized that I was not being myself and that was not what I want. I don’t blame that bunch of friends either, because they were born in that circular of lifestyle.

I am merely quiet, but if I have my clicks, then I do talk as much, something which I don’t do with everyone. I am not being arrogant, but this is what I am and I am happy with it, because I know I’m mature enough to take the right step in order to gain success, and doing the best at this moment puts me in the best place for the next moment. I don’t have to show people my capabilities, but as long as I can prove it to myself, no other happiness would outcast that feeling. There are so many people out there who share the same characteristic as I am, and what we all have to learn is to appreciate every human being, as what I have learned from this book. Yes I do struggle at times juggling with these substances. But where there is no struggle, there is no strength. This book changed my prospective towards life and to see things beyond what it is shown. I still have my feet on the ground; I just wear better shoes..

Oprah Winfrey :

“I don't believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process”