Journal 1 q2

The poem "Our Greatest Fear" by Marianne Williamson may not be considered a master work to the average literature scholar. There are, however, many aspects of master literature expressed through the purpose and values expressed in this poem. There are many great quotes, speeches, and poems that I like to refer to when I am not feeling so confident. There is an energy within the syntax that inspires me. The way this poem is structured is so important to the expression of the purpose. That is hardly what this particular blog is about though. I feel that I can identify with every message this poem is conveying to me when I read it. It was meant to inspire, and it does just that. In my life, my greatest fear has been related to success. Not necessarily whether I will be successful or not but rather what will happen after I achieve any amount of success. I fear I will lose my self control and let my ego get the best of me. I fear people will look at me differently because I am successful. I am constantly concerned that I will become too successful or "powerful," and it will not allow me to be the man I wish to be. No matter how much success I have in my life, I refuse to forget my roots and from where I came. I want to be as great as I can be for me and not for anyone else. As a very accomplished musician so far in my life, sometimes I am insecure playing around people with less talent than me as awful and probably conceited as that seems. There have been plenty of times where I have played less than my best because I do not want to belittle the other musicians around me. This was the biggest factor leading up to my leaving the band program at St. Mark's. I felt I could not be great so "people won't feel insecure." Whenever I am faced with thoughts like this, I always look back at this poem. I believe, I was meant to "manifest the glory of God" in all that I do and that I can never be satisfied giving less than my best effort even if it costs the people around me a little self confidence.