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Posts from the ‘Poetry’ Category

Feb 13

One tip to tweak your morning routine to become happier and more creative

Recently, I had a major epiphany about how to tweak my morning routine to become more creative, happier, and joyful.

But, first, the morning routine.

I learned a few years ago about the power of having a morning routine in Hal Elrod’s book, “The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM).”

The author writes about the many benefits of a morning routine such as waking up every day with more energy, drive, and structure; lowering stress levels, improving health, increasing productivity, and having more gratitude and less anxiety.

He lists six activities to include in your morning routine that he calls “savers.”

The term SAVERS stands for:

  • Silence (meditation/prayer)
  • Affirmations
  • Visualization
  • Exercise
  • Reading
  • Scribing (journaling)

The idea is to spend the first hour of your day on these items. On those days that you don’t have an hour then you can condense your routine into whatever time you have.

I won’t go into all the details because there are so many great articles on this topic already, including this one by Ricardo Singh, “Miracle Morning routine: 6 steps to boost productivity.”

I don’t do all six items but use them more as a menu to choose from depending on how I feel and what I think I need that morning.

My morning routine is the foundation of my day and without it, I feel lost at sea, afloat on a wave of too many responsibilities and tasks. That time to myself in the morning centers me for the day, and I feel as if time expands for me as a result—not in some woo-woo, supernatural way but because I’m more focused and productive.

So, what’s my epiphany?

Read more

Apr 20

Symbolism in literature: Is a rose just a rose?

In her poem, “Sacred Emily,” Gertrude Stein wrote, “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” This line is often interpreted as meaning things are what they are. In Stein’s view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it.

In literature, objects can simply be what they are or they can symbolize something more than what they are.

A symbol is anything that hints at something else, usually something abstract, such as an idea or belief. A literary symbol is an object, a person, a situation, or an action that has a literal meaning in a story but suggests or represents other meanings.

If you want to learn more about crafting symbols in your story and how to use poetic techniques to deepen your prose, please join me this Thursday, April 21 for my writing webinar Sound and Symbol: How to Use Poetry to Deepen Your Prose, which is part of the Free Expressions Literary Series.

I’ll dive deep into how poetry can add sensory engagement to your prose.

We can have general symbols—like the aforementioned rose—and we can have specific symbols.

A general symbol is universal in its meaning. Even if the symbol was removed from a work of literature, it would still suggest a larger meaning, i.e. the rose symbolizes romantic love throughout time.

Read more

May 11

Elevate your prose with poetry techniques

No matter what you write—emails, short stories, novels, or nonfiction—your prose can be more persuasive and impact your reader more effectively by using poetic devices.

Below are three blog posts to help you discover the power of using rhetorical techniques to create more poetic prose.

This Thursday, May 13, I’d love to have you on my webinar Adding Poetry to Your Prose.

You can buy the entire webinar series featuring well-known writers, including Donald Maass, Emma Dryden, and James Scott Bell, or scroll down to May 13 and grab my webinar. If you can’t make it live, you’ll receive the recording and all my handouts afterwards.

I’d love to see you there!

Until then, please enjoy these posts:

Use rhetorical devices to evoke readers’ emotions

Rhetorical devices: Your secret writing weapon

Add alliteration to make your pages pop!

Sep 6

Ars Poetica 2020: Where poetry inspires art

Ars Poetica Art & PoetryDownload

Ars Poetica is an annual poetry/art event in my county where poets enter their work in a contest and, if chosen, their work is forwarded to local artists. Each artist chooses one or more poems that resonate with them, and they make a piece of art inspired by the poem. This is the opposite of ekphrastic poetry where a poem is inspired by a painting or other work of art.

Once the art is finished, both the art and poem are displayed at local art galleries and celebrated with a reading and display of the art.

I was lucky enough to have two poems chosen this year. Artist Michelle Perdue chose my poem Smite Me. Her painting of the same name and my poem are displayed at the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse. Due to the current state of our society, the reading was shifted to an online presentation of the poems and artwork, which you can view by clicking the link above and downloading the PDF.

Take your time to savor the poetry and the artwork. Ask questions. Explore. Contemplate.

And remember, art inspires art. Maybe something within these pages will inspire you.

For more inspiration and to spark ideas, read my post Creativity begets creativity: How to build your creative muscles.

Mar 27

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Why you should write in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic

Writers write. No matter what the circumstances.

And in a crisis, writing can be our solace, our counselor, and our hope.

During the economic downturn of 2008, my employer, like many others, announced it was laying off workers. We knew it was coming, but not when. For months, employees lived in limbo, under a cloud of impending doom.

One of my writing teachers told me to write about it. Keep a notebook, she said. Write about everything.

We have been watching the march of the coronavirus as it has spread around the world, building momentum and anxiety.

We wake up each morning unsettled, with reports about worsening conditions and the prospect of an uncertain future. Consider keeping a journal to note what you’re seeing and hearing. You may find inspiration for a story or poem. Many great works of art have come out of crises. And writing can help alleviate stress.

Kitty O’Meara, a retired teacher and chaplain from Wisconsin, channeled her anxiety by writing a poem about what we could do and how we could change in this chaotic time.

Even in her isolation, O’Meara has shared spiritual healing with the world on her blog by speaking to the prospect of light in the darkness and hope for global healing.

Writing is a channel for joy, stress, and making sense of events. And so is reading. Here is her poem:

In the Time of Pandemic

And the people stayed home. And they read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And they listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.

And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.

And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live, and they healed the earth fully, as they had been healed.

– Kitty O’Meara

What kind of transformation will you create as a result of the coronavirus?

May 28

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Creativity begets creativity: How to build your creative muscles

In my 20s I was busy working and raising a family. I had no time for anything else, much less any creative endeavors. But one day I realized that part of me was missing—my creative self. I knew I needed to do something to fulfill that emptiness within but I didn’t know how to start.

Literally, the next day I was browsing in a book store and a book fell off the shelf and landed on my foot! Make Your Creative Dreams Real by SARK became my inspiration for designing my creative life. I don’t think I even finished the book, but I read enough to make a list of creative projects I wanted to pursue. I chose one—writing—and thus began my creative journey.

What I’ve learned over the years is that creativity begets creativity. Practicing creativity in any form exercises and strengths our creative muscles. Think of your imagination as a muscle for a moment.

When I had ankle surgery and couldn’t walk on my right leg for three months, I was amazed at how quickly I lost muscle tone. When I measured my calf muscles in both legs, my right leg was one inch smaller! Your imagination is like this—if you don’t use it, you lose it. And when you do exercise it, you gain momentum over time. Read more

Oct 29

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How I find happiness and health through writing

I’ve dabbled in poetry off and on since my late teens. I’ll go through spurts of massive writing stints followed by some lean months, depending on what’s going on in my life. Over the years, writing and reading poetry has improved my mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Writing poetry, fiction, memoir, nonfiction, or even a blog post makes me happier, calmer, more peaceful, and less stressed. When I’m writing, everything is right with my world. If I go too long without writing, I can tell because I get grumpy! When I feel the grumps coming on, it’s my sign to start writing-—even writing a blog post will get me smiling again.

Research is just starting to reveal what poets and writers have known for centuries.

From the NPR article, Can Poetry Keep You Young?  “The early evidence suggests that the arts have positive cognitive, social, and emotional impact on older adults.”

When I’m in the flow of my writing—whether it’s poetry, fiction, or nonfiction—it’s like being infused in a certain healing frequency….like a cat purring on my lap. (Fun fact: Did you know that cats purr during both inhalation and exhalation with a consistent pattern and frequency between 25 and 150 Hertz?  Researchers have shown that sound frequencies in this range can improve bone density and promote healing. Scientific American)

In the NPR article, one poetry workshop participant said, “Poetry helped me begin to focus how I felt about losing my son. When you lose, you also remember what you had before the loss. And so poetry allows you to begin to look at a relationship, at what was of value to you.”

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