Becoming

For this past birthday my lover bought me Michelle Obama’s Becoming as part of my birthday gift and from the first page, the very first line, which reads, “I spent much of my childhood listening to the sound of striving.”, I knew I’d be thanking him for a long time.  

This week I finished the book.  

I’ve read the praise, I’ve seen parts of the tour online, I’m aware it’s still on the NY Times Best Seller list and that it broke several sales records.  I’ve also seen the social media craze, which sometimes turns people off, but for this book, I’ll tell you it’s worth it.  

If I’m honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from our former first lady.  While I was intrigued about the possibility of gaining insight into what the life of a United States First Family (not to mention First Black Family) was like, and while I was interested in learning more about the woman who has fascinated us with her intellect and her grace, I wasn’t sure that I would be reading a page turner.  However, there were nights I really didn’t want to stop reading.  

Now that I completed the memoir, I’m left feeling so grateful for the simple fact that people write their stories.  Every time I read stories like these, I am reminded of the power of literature: how it connects us and how it forces us to reflect on our lives. In reading her story, I learned about myself, and I reflected on my role as a mother, as a friend, as a professional, and as a partner.  

I don’t want to share too much of the story, in fear of ruining it for those people that haven’t read it yet, but I do want to share that it moved me.  It was a powerful story of finding your place, your voice, and of becoming, every day, more of the person you’re supposed to me. 

I’ll share some quotes from the book that were either aesthetically pleasing to read or that turned on the lightbulb in my mind.  

“Failure is a feeling long before it becomes an actual result.”(p43)

“Here’s a memory, which like most memories is imperfect and subjective—collected long ago like a beach pebble and slipped into the pocket of my mind.” (p87)

“My purpose had always been to see pst my neighborhood—to look ahead and overcome.  And I had.  I’d scored myself two Ivy League degrees.  I had a seat at the table at Sidley & Austin.  I’d made my parents and grandparents proud.  But listening to Barack, I began to understand that his version of hope reached far beyond mine: It was one thing to get yourself out of a stuck place, I realized.  It was another thing entirely to try and get the place itself unstuck.” (p117-18)

“There are truths we face and truths we ignore…” (p135)

“I didn’t want them ever to believe that life began when the man of the house arrived home.  We didn’t wait for Dad.  It was his job now to catch up with us.” (p207)

“My friends made me whole, as they always have and always will.” (p362)

“You got somewhere by building that better reality, if at first only in your own mind.” (p395)

“I had nothing or I had everything.  It depends on which way you want to tell it.” (p416)

“I’m an ordinary person who found herself on an extraordinary journey.” (p420-21)