Why do I write poetry when I’m not very good at it? Primarily, I create poems as a prose-writing exercise. By writing poetry I practice being precise in my word choices in order to create vivid images in as few words as possible– striking and colorful nouns, lively and intense verbs, fewer adjectives and adverbs. I create poems to improve the lyrical flow of my prose-writing.
So that’s one reason.
I discovered a second reason I write poetry: it is therapeutic. I certainly do not set out to write poems about my inner well-being (or lack thereof on certain days). While engaging in the April NaPoWriMo Challenge (writing a poem a day for 30 days), I found that some of the poems I wrote “took over” and out came some of my issues. So obvious this was to me that I am now researching the use of poetry for emotional healing and resolution. Poetry writing could become a daily meditative practice and inner work. I’ll see where that leads me.
Here are a couple of media resources I came across that you may find of interest:
A podcast episode of Poetry Spoken Here devoted to Poetry Therapy
I’m not certain if I will have time today to write a NaPoWriMo poem. I will try to do something this evening if I can, but in the meantime I give you this:
Do you think you’re weird? Are you living the life that you think others would approve of and are sick of living with that? Then embrace your weirdness.
And even if you don’t think you’re weird, do your weird friends a favor and watch this video.
In this coming new year, one of my goals had been to do some sort of sketching each day. I have been hesitating in making a commitment to this goal because of the self-doubt that comes whenever I try to create in a medium in which I am not particularly adept. I know that this lack of confidence would become too burdensome and I would quickly drop the practice.
Then it occurred to me to try “zentangle” drawing because of an article I recently stumbled upon in Psychology Today on the psychological benefits of this type of doodling. Some might say that such drawings are not really “art,” but the final product is not the point of the activity. The point in creating these pen and paper doodles is to relax and de-stress. This is really the whole reason of my making this an evening after-work exercise. It has been a stressful 2018 and I don’t foresee 2019 being any different. So today, I have been exploring the basic techniques. Below is a video on what I want to someday achieve and after that is a basic tutorial I watched this morning.
Zentangle Time Lapse (about 2 minutes):
And a tutorial in case you are interested too (about 30 minutes):
I came across this TedX video about the benefits of a daily writing practice. Since life recently threw me a curve ball, I have fallen out the of that practice. This video has motivated me to pick it up again and make it a part of my daily spiritual routine– just like prayer, meditation and yoga. If you are a writer — or even if you are not– I encourage you to take a few minutes and listen to this writer’s entire presentation. She really provides some practical advice for developing a daily writing routine.
I am actually in the process of writing a story. I outlined it this week, started it last night, and hope to have a first draft on Monday. We’ll see, but that’s the plan.
In the meantime here’s a little quickie for you. It is a montage of clips from various lectures by Ray Bradbury. Enjoy!
I love TedX talks. In these videos I learn a lot from some smart people about amazing topics. I particularly resonated to this talk by actress Katie Rubin about her spiritual connection to the Divine. Yes, we can talk about spiritual things and laugh at the same time. Enjoy:
When women reach a certain age, we are expected to step back, melt into the wallpaper, and be invisible. We might be tempted to do just that since the odds to succeed in voicing ourselves and making a difference in this world sometimes seems to be stacked against us.
Not necessarily so. We have to work for it, true, but it is not an insurmountable feat.
I remember that once, when I was very young, I had an earache and a family member blew cigarette smoke in my ear to alleviate the pain. I don’t remember if it worked or not. In retrospect, this act seems bizarre, and I am somewhat skeptical of its effectiveness. I also remember that whenever someone in the family had severe body aches, a liberal quantity of foul-smelling “liniment” was applied to that person. Since I don’t recollect ever seeing a television ad for this product, I did a little research and found out that “liniment” is the name of any herbal infusion or tincture used as a topical remedy for pain.
No, we did not live in some remote cabin in the woods. We lived in the suburbs. And we did take regular medicines, and, as needed, we did go to medical doctors. Nevertheless, these quirky folk remedies occasionally were employed.
More recently, an older family member mentioned that a great-grandfather of mine did “water-witching”. This is the act of finding water using dowsing rods. Another family member said that was nonsense, that my great-grandfather was not a dowser, but had in fact only hired a dowser to find a place to sink a well — which I guess was not nonsense.
Anyway, my point in mentioning all this is that there was a time when such folk ways were the norm. No one thought they were “paranormal,” “New Age,” “magickal,” “earth-based,” “of the devil” or “alternative.” Folk-ways were a part of a world view that for the people of the time were normal and effective. It was just the way things were.
As a city girl, born and raised, I have been for the most part cut off from this heritage. I’m never going to need to dowse for water (I’ll call a plumber) or have someone blow smoke in my ear (I’ll take an antibiotic). But I can see the benefit of returning to the use herbs, healthy food, exercise and fresh air to maintain good health. I can see the wisdom of joining the ancient folk medicines of Europe and Indigenous America with that of traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic health practices. They are cheaper and gentler on the body in many cases–though I will still go to the hospital if I feel like I am having a heart-attack.
These ancient ways were typically handed down from mothers to daughters, or from sages to their students. Typically the teachers would find the most teachable student in the family and bestow this knowledge to the next generation.
Maybe my vague recollections of these ancient practices and my current study and application of these practices is a way in which this knowledge is being bestowed upon me.
Postscript: After I wrote this, I found this Ted Talk. The scholar echoes what I am trying to say here:.
