Sarah Kay is a spoken-word poet. She presents her poems by speaking them rather than just writing them on paper. In this talk, she performs two of her poems, "B" and "Hiroshima," and explains the beauty of spoken-word poetry.
Kay kicks off the talk with her first spoken-word poem, a motivational story about what kind of mother she will be to her daughter in this often difficult life. And that's what it was: a story. It was not a poem in the sense that it rhymed or followed some particular meter; it was a passionate story that inspired the listeners and allowed us to connect with the speaker at some emotional level. In fact it threw me off a bit at first. It was only after she finished her poem and started the meat of her talk that I even realized the introduction was a spoken-word poem. To me, she just sounded like a very good motivational/inspirational speaker. But this is one of her main points: spoken-word poetry doesn't have to be difficult. It's not about following some particular poetic structure; it's about conveying one's thoughts in order to connect with other people in the room. Kay mentions that oftentimes many people feel like they're alone, but hearing and sharing these emotion-filled and often personal poems creates an immediate connection between people. Spoken-word poetry is accessible to everyone.
After Kay's introduction, she tells the audience to think of three things they each know to be true. And then she says that, if people were to share their lists, they would hear four things: one of their own same items, something completely opposite of one of their items, something they had never even heard of before, and a new angle on something they thought they already knew everything about. This stresses both the importance of sharing ideas as well as the disturbing notion that nothing is concrete; almost everything is a matter of perspective. Things we consider to be the most basic truths, completely irrefutable in our own minds, can be viewed very differently by other people. Even something as concrete as math isn't actually as objective as perhaps many of us believe it to be or would like it to be. In the one week of Advanced Calculus that I took at the beginning of this semester, my professor told me that in the field of (1, 0), 1 + 1 = 0, but of course it would make no sense to say 1 + 1 = 1 because that would imply that 1 = 0. That's when I decided I wasn't in the right class. My point is that arguably nothing is set in stone to the point that every person on this planet could agree that it's true. And that's a disturbing notion. But it also makes it important to share your ideas with other people in order to expose yourself to other perspectives. Can you think of one fact that has no counterexamples, one thing everyone can agree on?
Kay also talks about the three steps that were most crucial to her in becoming a successful spoken-word poet:
1. the moment she said "I can"
2. when she said "I will" continue to do this
3. realizing that she needed to grow and explore and take risks and challenge herself and incorporate herself into these poems while she was simultaneously changing and growing. This step never ends.
But these steps to success could be applied to any situation. In order to do the "impossible," you have to believe in yourself and have confidence that you can do it in the first place. Then comes perseverance and finally the beginnings of success with the recognition that one must challenge his/herself in order to grow. Kay uses poetry to work through things she doesn't understand, but there are many different avenues one could take in order to further discover oneself. It seems like someone certainly has to bare their soul in order to be as successful of a spoken-word poet as Kay.
This blog is based on a TED Talk by Sarah Kay: http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter.html
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