Are you a practicing poet? I’m guessing if you’re reading this article, you’d love to be. But. But. The BIG BUT.
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.
