In Baldwin’s Sonny’s Blues, Sonny has to deal with the race-related problems that exist within Harlem as well as substance abuse. As an African-American boy born in Harlem, Sonny aims to escape the existing traditional social order and ends up being in prison (Baldwin et al., 1970). He is limited by his incarceration and drug addiction problem, which affects his ability to realize the freedom that he seeks to attain. Despite these struggles, Sonny has a gift for music, unlike any other that the others around him have seen or heard. Sonny uses this gift as a channel through which Sonny can overcome the challenges and obstacles that he faces. He uses his music to redeem himself, and by creating music, he is able to escape all that troubles him. He surrenders himself entirely to his music and is able to handle his substance abuse problem.
In Gaskell's The Life of Charlotte Bronte, Charlotte faces the barrier of female discrimination while attempting to be a poet. Charlotte was born in a time in which the growth and development of women were riddled with political difficulties. As a woman, Charlotte was expected only to take on domestic responsibilities and not pursue any creative outlets or channels (Gaskell, 2009). Hence, the main obstacle that she faces while attempting to grow and develop her gift of poetry is elevated opposition from the male gender. She had to deal with the difficulties that other women like her faced at the same time. However, while Charlotte received no support from the external world concerning her gift of poetry, which included rejection by a poet laureate, she had enough intrinsic motivation. She was able to overcome the obstacle of gender discrimination by finding support within herself and taking on the enthusiasm of her sisters to become an established writer. This included an established capability to balance her domestic duties and the development of creative gifts.
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In my identified gifts, several obstacles may affect my development and growth of these gifts. One of these obstacles is my absence of self-awareness. To be observant, empathetic, and helpful, I need to be fully aware of my strengths and weaknesses in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of those around me. This acts as the only way through which I can help others and grow my gifts. Another obstacle is my discomfort in social situations. While I have the ability to be friendly and interact with those around me, I struggle with being comfortable in new and unexplored social situations. Unexplored and alien social environments give me a high level of anxiety that affects my capability to properly explore my gifts with individuals that I am not well acquainted with. In turn, this affects the range within which I can appropriately apply my gifts.
One of the ways I can properly overcome these obstacles is by practicing self-awareness. Having a proper understanding of my limitations, strengths, and weaknesses is critical to my understanding of the environment around me. Hence, I plan to practice ways in which I can be more self-aware such as establishing an understanding of some of my reactions. This would also provide me with the comfort that I would need in new social situations. Self-awareness is critical for my comfort in a variety of situations, and this would help me in reducing the level of anxiety I have in new surroundings. Lastly, I plan to engage in self-motivation as internal motivation is essential to my development and growth. Self-drive will mean that I will continuously work on self-improvement despite the obstacles that I may face.
References
Baldwin, J., & Kirby, G. (1970). Sonny's blues (pp. 175-206). Klett.
Gaskell, E. (2009). The Life of Charlotte Brontë . OUP Oxford.
