Post by iriekaya on Dec 27, 2005 12:10:41 GMT 1
Someone posted that interview on another board, the interview was done with a 14 year old girl.
BG: Little girls across the world have great admiration for you, how does that make you feel?
Lauryn: I guess good in that I understand now that the admiration really isn't for me. The admiration is for life, it's for freedom it's for faith. I think what they really admire, they think its me, but what they really admire is a current that runs through me when I am in tune with that current. Because trust me when I am not in tune with that current I don't think they would be admiring. They would realize that I am no different from any of them. But when I am allowed to you know hold on to that current. Hold on to life and be an expression of truth, I think that's what they admire and because I also admire that current. I also admire that life force that makes me happy. Because I realize that it's not me so much as it is the CREATOR, the author of life. The author of song. The author of music. The author of dance. The author of inspiration. The CREATOR himself.
BG: As a pre teen, I continue to evolve and change. Some of the things I liked to do when I was 10, I don't do anymore. In what ways has Lauryn Hill evolved over the years?
Lauryn: Oh boy, drastically, and at the same time not so much at all. In that I think that I am learning how to really pay less attention to the expectations of others now. And so the real me can be revealed and exposed more and more each day. Things I really liked when I was younger, but may have been afraid to express because I didn't know how those things would be received. I'm just now at 26 years old gaining confidence, faith, and trust, that God made me who I am for a reason. I am beginning to walk in that confidence. So in that respect, there are of things I did as a young person. Things I just did in ignorance, unknowingly, that I realize now are the strong parts of who I am, you know, parts of me that may perhaps may have been ridiculed in the past because people didn't understand that form of expresion. When I was younger I would wrap sheets on my head or just do creative things. Whether it be in the way I dressed myself or the way I sang or the music I liked, in these boxes that society has marked for people you know sometimes it is very difficult to walk outside of that. But there is freedom outside of any set box, any set stereotype and expectations. And things that I appreciated all my life, I am really just now beginning to really come to terms with. Why God made me the way I am. Who I really am and really walk that out.
BG: Talk a little about Lauryn Hill the teenager. Tell us about the types of things you liked to do, the thoughts that occupied your mind, and your worldview at the time?
Lauryn: I think there was a lot of naivety there but there was also a lot of sincerity. Because of the naivety I think I was a lot faster learner because I would make choices based on sort of this idealist view that I had of the world. But I could find out faster what was on the other side of that decision. Because there were probably fewer inhibitions. I was young and fearless to a certain extent and was able to learn about God's parameters because I was not afraid to walk or make certain decisions or really do what I thought I wanted. The good part about choices is that you certainly get to find out what is on the other side of your choice. Things that I thought I wanted, I found out later on that I didn't really want. But I was very passionate and I usually followed my passion. And when I look backing retrospect I realize that those are the only decisions that God really honored were those faithful decisions. Where I was passionate about something and either way I was going to learn something from that experience. I am just very grateful for the way that the Lord has taken me. Shaped by steps and move me around because I have learned quite a bit.
BG: How has motherhood helped you gain a better understanding of yourself and your life purpose?
Lauryn: If anything, I think it's helped me to understand the selfishness of humanity and the human nature. You know we really don't receive change well. It (change) is something we have to get adjusted to. At the same time I can also see my maturity, through my children. I can see my lack of discipline in my children. I believe that they oftentimes reflect my state of being. Like my newest child, my son, Joshua, he's a lot more calm. He only really cries when he needs to eat. Which is a little bit different than his brothers and sisters, where I realize that really, that is a more of reflection of how I was back then as to how I am now. I can see the change.
BG: How has family life changed Lauryn Hill?
Lauryn: It changed me in the way it would change any individual who decides to have a family, seriously. You know your life…you can't be the same selfish person that you once were. You now have other people to consider in your decision making process and that changes pretty much everything. I have to make decisions based on my reality now, which includes three children, a husband, so you know, there is certain decisions I have to live my life accordingly. If I leave them when I am about to do something, I have to make provisions for them, you know.. And if I bring them along, I have to make provisions for them. That's the way it is. It can be a challenge. But it is also a blessing, in that I get to watch them grow.
BG: Do you feel some responsibility to the Marley legacy?
Lauryn: No. I don't feel any responsibility. Whatever similarities that people may attribute, perhaps my music or my life, once again its' because of the current that runs through or that a person allows, opens up to, opens the door to. But as far as me being apart of that family that's something that God did. Definitely wasn't a choice of my own and for that reason I can't do anything but just be who I am and accept where he has put me, who he has aligned me with and just appreciate the blessings every day. But as far as responsibility or obligation no. Just love. I am very grateful to have life. Grateful to have children,I am grateful to have a mate that loves me and who I love. Just nothing but appreciation for life. That's what I feel.
BG: What would you like to share with our readers about your upcoming album?
Lauryn: Hopefully it will be another level in expressing a freer Lauryn. Freer. Free from expectation. Free from obligation. Free from the responsibility of being somebody in the world. Just free to express to who I am at this moment in time. And just that. Just a moment in time of expression. If God allows that. What a blessing to be able to have a medium to just express me at this moment. It's almost like a, sort of like a chronicle or that awaited document. Me at this age, at this time, at this stage in my development because I will never be at this stage ever again. I mean even tomorrow I am already at a different stage in my development you know.
BG: Do you have anything more you would like to say the Blackgirls that will read this magazine?
Lauryn: I think would say to all people who want truth. I mean I have really come to learn that truth though it may not be popular though it may not be understood, is the best thing for any of us. If we just accept and admit who we are, where we are, what we are in this stage of our development. I believe that God can deal with truth. I believe that denial and dishonesty is the very destruction of our lives.
www.blackgirlmagazine.com
