Spoiler alert—it isn’t because we’re lazy, unfocused child-adults with no willpower.

Shame and the Shadow

Let me introduce you to…Carl Jung. The trailblazer. The rebel. The scamp. The shadow work pioneer. 

Jung believed that our shadow selves contain our repressed emotions, thoughts, desires, insecurities, and fears. We repress these things because we’ve been conditioned to associate these feelings or thoughts with something embarrassing or shameful. We don’t want to be judged or rejected by others.  

Most of us have been conditioned to “be positive” and “look on the bright side.” I internalized those concepts so well that I stayed in not one but two toxic relationships as an adult, much longer than I should have. (Do I get the third one free?) 

I can assure you that looking only on the bright side doesn’t keep the bad stuff from happening. I’ve learned what I don’t know about myself can still kick me in the ass.

A man who is possessed by his shadow is always standing in his own light and falling into his own traps…living below his own level.

Carl Jung

Jung believed if we are consistently finding ourselves stuck, or ending up in similar unhealthy situations (or relationships) again and again, we have shadow work to do. And, of course, all of this is a goldmine for the writer. The darker, the better, really, isn’t it? Everything is grist for the mill. 

Shadow work is the writer’s work. 

It’s what we’ve been called to do, whether we know it or not. Doing this work is a way of deepening self-awareness and self-reflection, two things every great writer needs. 

Yeah, but you don’t want to and it’s scary, I can hear you now. Heck, maybe that’s just me. 

Shadow work can feel scary. But what’s scarier? Exploring aspects of ourselves that might be holding us back, or being held back from what we want and never knowing why? 

If we want off the hamster wheel of self-sabotage and self-destructive behaviors (and the shame spiral that accompanies it), this is something we should try. 

Using Poetry to Engage in Shadow Work

Poetry, more than any other type of writing, is particularly suited for shadow work. You can’t drone on for pages, getting lost in melancholy. You must cut to the quick, to the heart of the matter.

Using poetry, you can hem the dark thoughts into a nice, comforting ballad, or my favorite, the Haiku—something with strict rules to contain the mess that is our whole selves. 

Be aware of when you have a strong reaction to something, either positive or negative. That’s it. That’s the first step—to get still and to notice. Two things every poet needs to do in order to write well. 

Here are a few more writing prompts to get you started:

When was the last time I felt at peace?
When is the critical voice in my head the loudest? 
When is it the quietest?
When do I feel angry? Why? How does it feel in my body?

Go slow, be kind to yourself, and if emotions get too scary, you can and should get professional mental health help, especially when dealing with trauma. The impact of a good therapist is life-changing. 

The second step is to allow yourself space to process what you’ve noticed. This isn’t a six-day cleanse. This is going to take some time. 

The last step is probably the hardest, and that’s to accept and integrate those traits. There are no three-step Powerpoint presentations for this. But there are ways you can tell the work is, well, is working:

Signs You’ve Been Doing Shadow Work:

Judging: You judge other people (and yourself) less. When you’ve made the courageous choice to look at your own darkness and offer yourself kindness and forgiveness, extending that to others is much easier. 

Triggers: Other people don’t trigger you like they used to. You notice the behavior, but you no longer feel compelled to respond.

The Blame Game: When a shadow trait pops up, you stop denying it and blaming yourself for not having everything under control. For some, this deepens into not blaming the person or event that triggered the response in the first place. You get curious, but you don’t get ashamed. 

Not Special: You realize you’re not special. You’re unique, wonderful, and lovely, and no one is exactly like you on the whole planet with all of the memories, dreams, and potential for greatness. But you’re not abnormal. The fates, God, or the universe didn’t set you aside at birth to suffer or cause your loved ones to suffer. You’re just you. Flawed, egotistical, with some trauma wounds from other people who didn’t do their own shadow work.

Confidence: Slowly, over time, you gain confidence in yourself and your abilities based on self-awareness. You know you’re worthy. You know if you write that poem or release that memoir, everything will be okay. You won’t be shamed or unloved. And if you are, you understand they are in pain and haven’t been doing their own shadow work. 

Peace: Your life is more peaceful. When you love your whole self, every other interaction flows more positively. And when you mess up, because you will, you’ll be able to respond with self-compassion, awareness, and a sweet alertness to what is changing inside of you.

In short, and because I love you, I encourage you to start noticing what you’re feeling and when. And next time you write the poem that breaks open someone else’s trauma and lays bare all they’ve been struggling with, and they email you to thank you for showing them they aren’t alone, you can turn around and thank me. No, that’s not right; thank yourself. But start. And then tell us what feeling you’re most curious about today.

Extra Resources for the Shadow-Curious:

Shadow Work for Poets: Prompts to Guide Your Poetic Journey by Dimitri Reyes and Jacinia Perez 
Shadow Work Journal for Self-Love by Latha Jay and Valerie Inez
The Benefits of Shadow Work and How to Use It On Your Journey

Angela Yeh is an East Coast Canadian native who grew up a stone’s throw from Stephen King’s Maine. She now lives in Texas and sees Chuck Norris on the always. Angela is a short tall-story-teller who loves to garden, write about magic, and eat cake. If you’d like to check out her first published novel, A Phoenix Rises, she will send you cookies. You can follow her antics on Twitter and Instagram or on her website.

The post Uplevel Your Life: Using Poetry for Shadow Work appeared first on DIY MFA.

So many buts. There are bills to pay, mouths to feed, and a Starbucks/Amazon addiction to indulge in. 

Well, do not despair. I have good news for you, my friend. You don’t have to quit your high-powered litigation career to wander around barefoot in the wilds, gathering words like mushrooms. 

You can be a practicing poet. While you pay those bills, think of playing with poetry as a gateway drug to a more meaningful, intrinsically whole, present, and attuned life.

Everyone Can Be a Practicing Poet

I am convinced the social media and real-life addictions we all have to entertainment and distractions, not to mention sugar and alcohol, are masking something real, something needful, some seed deep within us that can only be watered by stillness. 

And, maybe, silliness?

Hear me out. My theory is that we are all poets. All of us. Even Aunt Shelly, the woman who irons her socks, has spreadsheets for every facet of her life, and knows the exact statistics on how much non-fiction one should be reading to stave off dementia in old age. Even engineers. Even medical malpractice lawyers might be practicing poets in disguise.

Just because you can’t spend your mornings reflecting on the sun rising over the top of your beautifully maintained orchids, out the (clean) window onto the front yard whose lawn is mowed, with no worries about a commute and/or dragging the kids kicking and screaming to the bus stop doesn’t mean you can’t find time to pen some poetry. 

There is always time in the pockets. These “dead times,” like waiting in line or between appointments, pick-ups, and drop-offs, are waiting for you to put up your phone and drop some verse. 

Just because these pockets are not oceans is no reason to wait until you retire. You can be a practicing poet right now while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store. 

It’s Biologically Good for You

left shoe untied
four almonds falling
a steady hand reaching out

The little Haiku poem above might not look like much, but while I was standing in line thinking of these words, rearranging them in my head, and then writing them down, something amazing was happening to me. The parts of my brain associated with memory, recall, and emotional processing lit up like Christmas. These are the same areas that are triggered when we are relaxed but focused. Think: having an interesting conversation with a good friend versus zoning out in front of the TV. Becoming a practicing poet is good for you, even at a biological level.

Writing also engages both the analytical and emotional sides of our mental processing. It’s like doing a whole-body workout, but for your brain. I think we can all use more of that.

Will People Make Fun of Me?

Probably. Do you care? 

If they like you, they’ll probably want to try it too. Odds are they’ll be amazed you’re writing and confess a long-buried desire of their own to write. 

You might be wondering where you can practice being a poet. I am here to tell you, literally anywhere. Do you think the woman sitting beside you during that 80-minute meeting about who should be included in the next organizing committee is writing notes related to work? I guarantee she’s making her grocery list. Or figuring out how much she needs to save to make it to Barbados this winter. Or she’s read this article and is trying to figure out what rhymes with “this could have been an email.”

What Does a Beginning Practicing Poet Read?

To write poetry, it helps to read it. Maybe even start by reading it. Let me assure you that poetry is not reserved for PhDs in literary theory. Poetry is humankind’s deep connection with self and nature, boiled down to snack-sized sound bites you can chew on your way to work. Or while eating that Keto, gluten-free, low-sugar breakfast bar.

Here are a few books to get you started:

A Year With Rumi (Daily readings) by Coleman Barks Pull in one poem a day and watch your life transform. I have read this cover to cover and keep re-reading it. There is one poem for every day of the year. They are short, powerful, and lovely.

Here are a few others I haven’t read but are on my Bookshop waitlist. Flowers waiting to be picked, you could say.

Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver presents a personal selection of her best work. I am sold. 

The 100 Best Poems of All Time by Leslie Pockell This one is rated well and benefits from many different poems and poets. I hope to find another favorite author here, and you might too. This is a good start if you aren’t sure what kind of poems you like.

I used to work on poems while I worked at a call center in my twenties between calls. I must have done something right, they made me a supervisor. So, there you are. Subjective proof that writing poetry is good not just for the brain and the soul but also for your career.

Angela Yeh is an East Coast Canadian native who grew up a stone’s throw from Stephen King’s Maine. She now lives in Texas and sees Chuck Norris on the always. Angela is a short tall-story-teller who loves to garden, write about magic, and eat cake. If you’d like to check out her first published novel, A Phoenix Rises, she will send you cookies. She lives with her husband, two human children, and three fur babies.

You can follow her antics on Twitter and Instagram or on her website.

The post Become a Practicing Poet appeared first on DIY MFA.

It struck me if they were able to read and write, everything they created would be a bestseller. They do not hold back. I had the sudden urge, as I was pouring vinegar in a pumpkin full of baking soda, to rush home and write down everything I was too scared to write earlier this morning. As the pumpkin ‘threw-up’ (SCIENCE!) and they laughed and stepped back and held their mouths or their stomachs, I reminded them not to eat too much turkey at Thanksgiving or they’d throw up too. Then I made fake throw-up sounds because when a toddler laughs, an angel gets their wings.

See? I only spent two hours with these guys and I just wrote the word ‘throw-up’ thrice! It’s working! 

Writing Truth Like a Toddler

Seriously, you know where I’m going with this. To write truth, we need to strip away the layers of social pressure to conform, to fit in, to be cool, perfect, and smart. We need to throw it all away and stare at our base selves in the mirror, in the darkness of our raw fear and write what we don’t want to face, let alone feel.

That’s intense. Let me step back in true toddler style and tell you it is all going to be okay. Someone will help you when you get into trouble. Someone always does. 

If you’re not ready to spill your heart on paper and share it with the whole world, try writing a poem with your family. If you’ve got access to someone’s kids around the ages of four to nine, even better. 

Here is what you do, and hopefully after doing this you will be brave enough to show us who you really are. I want to see who you really are.

Putting Truth into Practice: the Cinquain Poem Exercise

A cinquain poem is a poem with five lines, and each one has a rule. (Toddlers love rules, if only so they know how many they’re breaking.)

Line 1 – one-word title

Line 2 – two words that describe the title

Line 3 – three action words about the title

Line 4 – four words that express a thought or feeling about the title

Line 5 – one word that means the same thing as the title.

This is a collaborative exercise – best done while Thanksgiving dinner is being made so as to have fun AND keep the littles out of the kitchen.

Here is an example we came up with:

A Turkey

Brown and juicy

Running, gobbling, flying

Surprised turkey is sad

Dinner

As you can see – this is easy and fun and kids love working together to create something new. Don’t be surprised if there are some bodily function words that come up that aren’t acceptable during dinner time conversation. This is for the laughs, as bodily functions are hilarious and make grown-ups huffy.

Are you a teacher or a parent of young children? What type of poems have you tried? What’s the most surprising thing that came out of creating poetry with children?

Angela Yeh is an East Coast Canadian native who grew up a stone’s throw from Stephen King’s Maine. She now lives in Texas and sees Chuck Norris on the always. Angela is a short tall-story-teller who loves to garden, write about magic, and eat cake. If you’d like to check out her first published novel, A Phoenix Rises, she will send you Cilantro seeds. She lives with her husband, two human children, and three fur babies. You can follow her antics on Twitter and Instagram or on her website.

The post Poetry: Toddler Style appeared first on DIY MFA.

In the past, I’ve shared resources on the craft of poetry. Today, I’m excited to talk to you about some of the revision strategies I’ve used in the past. I tried to include a variety of strategies, but this isn’t an exhaustive list, and you should feel free to experiment.  

Before diving in, though, take a moment to do an assessment of your work (either alone or with a writing group). Are there areas in which you’re consistently getting feedback? Are there areas you want to improve upon? Make note of these and develop or find revision strategies that address your particular concerns. 

Make a Self-Erasure

This revision strategy involves cutting out most, if not all, of the narrative connective tissue, or explanatory language in the poem. When I use this strategy, more often than not, my poem shrinks considerably, and all that I’m left with are disjointed images, or an “erasure” of my poem. This strategy helps me better identify the moments in the poem that are stronger, and the language that feels most emotionally charged. Additionally, it helps me see where the language is weaker so I can cut or revise those moments in the poem. 

Expand by Exploring a Theme

During my last year of grad school, I suddenly developed a love (okay, more like an obsession) for the Gothic genre, particularly Gothic romance. I was interested in exploring this genre in a poem, but wasn’t exactly sure where to start. 

As I began to draft the poem, I researched some of the most common tropes found in Gothic literature, specifically Gothic romance. I wanted to incorporate this research into my poem, but was worried that I’d simply be rewriting or restating a Wikipedia article instead of doing something new and exciting with the knowledge. 

I turned to poet Louise Glück to help me, particularly her use of the lyric “I” and the seemingly personal/autobiographical reflections interwoven throughout her collection, Averno. 

For example, in “Persephone the Wanderer,” a more scholarly diction is used on pg. 75: “When a god grieves it means / destroying others (as in war).” Later, on pg. 76, this tone appears to be reversed, and the poem becomes more personal and reflective when the “I” reappears at the beginning of the final three stanzas: “I think I can remember / being dead. Many times, in winter, / I approached Zeus. Tell me, I would ask him, / how can I endure the earth?” 

I really admire this technique, and still use it today, weaving the scholarly material in between the more autobiographical elements. I think this adds more texture to my poems as a whole, and uses my research in a way that isn’t simply restating or rewording theoretical analyses or tropes, but reimagining them within the context of my own experiences. 

Start Earlier, End Sooner

The next revision strategy that has worked well for me is starting a poem later and ending it earlier. I often find myself taking a while to get to the “meat” or emotional center of the poem. When that happens, I’ve found that the beginning stanzas of the poem are weaker, or less exciting, than the second half of the poem. 

I’ve found it very helpful to identify the places where the language is the most intense. When I do that, I cut out everything that comes before that moment, or I rearrange the poem so that I begin with the most compelling images or lines.

Another one of my poetic tendencies is to explain the “moral” or “takeaway” of a poem in the last stanza. In order to solve this issue, I will usually look to my last stanza, since that is where I do a lot of the explaining work, and completely cut it. Often this is enough to open up the poem a little more, and prevent it from snapping shut too soon. 

Switch Things Up

Sometimes, a radical revision is the best kind of revision. Is your poem written in a more traditional form? Try writing it in prose instead. Did you write a prose poem? You might find it useful to use the “self-erasure” strategy above. 

Back to you, poets! 

Have you tried any of the above revision strategies? Let us know in the comments! 

Manuela Williams lives and writes in Nevada. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks and one paranormal fiction novella. When she’s not writing, Manuela loves reading romance novels, drinking *all* the coffee, and playing video games. You can find her on Twitter right here.

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