Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I weigh in at Weight Watchers and the same leader is always there.  I really like him, and his encouragement keeps me coming.  A couple of weeks ago I described the documentary "I Am Not Your Negro", about James Baldwin.  Today he told me he'd seen it, and we talked some more.  He's black, and I like his perspective and the fact that he'd seen a TV special on Maya Angelou and her son told about the great conversations his mother would have with "Jimmy".  He must have been strikingly exceptional, beginning as a child when his white teacher mentored him and took him to plays and concerts.  He had many famous friends and was published early and often.  His words are heartrendingly true, but his presence must have been equally powerful.  People were drawn to him.  Charisma is intangible, but coupled with the ability to craft words and keep your own transparency, that is truly special.  His speech is still changing lives, long after his death.  I told the leader at Weight Watchers he spoke to me searingly in my twenties, and speaks as powerfully to me in my seventies.  That is some right speech!