Hello, my friend,

I pray you are doing well and staying strong. I hope that you are taking time each day to be still. To enjoy the feeling of sunlight on your skin as it spills through a nearby window. To admire a hummingbird hovering splendidly before a flower. To turn off your devices and tune out the world in favor of time with a curious book from the top shelf, a favorite CD from decades past, a game of fetch with your dog, or peek-a-boo with your baby. To cook a good meal. To write a short poem. To take a long walk. To sing a song at the top of your lungs. To inhale and exhale to the rhythm of the first ten poems you can get your hands on.

 

Poetry is healing. As Leonard Cohen said, it is “just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”

 

We don’t have to be in the best of spirits or at the peak of a mountain to be described as “burning well.” We burn well when we choose joy over depression, hope over despair, kindness over hatred, forgiveness over bitterness. Love over all. Let virtue win your heart and flow from your being as whatever form of poetry feels natural. No, not natural— necessary.

“Poetry is an act of peace.” – Pablo Peruda

 

My challenge to you this week is to devote a few minutes every day to journaling. Record how you feel before and after, and let me know if there’s a difference.