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- Poems for Challenging Times 8 May 22, 2020
- Journalling Through a Time of Corona 9 May 19, 2020
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- Journalling Through a Time of Corona 8 May 11, 2020
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Poems for Challenging Times 8
Another David Whyte poem this week, and a long, stretchy one at that! Current circumstances can tempt us to stay inside ourselves; the challenge is to go beyond ourselves (it only needs to be a little way at a time). Refuse that call for too long and we end up beside ourselves.
The road-image of the poem emerges from the poet’s own experience of a physical journey. When have you been faced with the prospec
Posted in Blog Posts, Poetry, Therapy, Writing Prompts
Tagged David Whyte, poem, therapeutic writing
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Journalling Through a Time of Corona 9
Last week we looked at reviewing our journal-writing. This week, I want to be a bit more forward-facing and think about opening up possibilities in our lives by using questions in our journals – the ones we pose and the ones that prompt us.
Questions can help us explore what we think, how we feel, our hopes and dreams, what matters most to us and what’s really going on in us. Questions are not necessarily
Poems for Challenging Times 7
Days of lockdown have only heightened our awareness of others on the limited occasions when we have been beyond our front door. We have become fine-tuned to others’ proximity and behaviour as we practise social distancing – from the avoidance of eye-contact to the edgy camaraderie and choreography of passing an approaching stranger.
Small Kindnesses pays attention to actions that cost very little but can
Journalling Through a Time of Corona 8
Throughout lockdown, the Government has conducted 3-weekly reviews of our national situation regarding coronavirus, to note any changing trends and make adjustments where appropriate.
This periodic stopping to take stock is a practice that can also help make our words work for us. It’s tempting as we finish a piece of journalling to put our pen down and think that that’s the end of it. Of course, it’s not
Poems for Challenging Times 6
It has been wisely said that writing is as simple as going slowly enough to notice things and stopping long enough to put them down in words. It’s just that most people don’t take take time to do either. Billy Collins’ ‘Morning’ pays careful attention to everyday detail, somehow transforming the ordinary into a sacrament of the present moment. Very specific passing moments like the feel of feet on a cold
Journalling Through a Time of Corona 7
This is the seventh week of journalling prompts I’ve offered since lockdown started in what feels like way back when…After around 6 weeks, any novelty of the experience has worn off, and we may feel we’re facing the weariness of same old, same old. One of writing’s great qualities – alongside its capacity to help us find words to nail down the extraordinary – is that it can also help us to
Poems for Challenging Times 5
Despite its somewhat apocalyptic title, today’s poem by Joy Harjo is as uplifting as it is haunting.
Harjo was born in 1951 in Oklahoma. As well as publishing nine poetry collections, she is a musician (playing saxophone in her band Poetic Justice) and author of two children’s books. In 2019, she became the first Native American to occupy the position of US Poet Laureate.
Perhaps the World Ends Here celebra
Journalling Through a Time of Corona 6
Last week I asked my journalling group what they wanted to write about in our upcoming online session. The response was unanimous: ‘Not Coronavirus!’ I found something similar when I ran creative writing sessions for cancer patients. ‘We don’t want to write about our cancer directly,’ said one. ‘It comes into the writing anyway, and it’s a safe place for that to happen. We want to find ways to expand
Poems for Challenging Times 4
This week’s poem is one newly-written and just received from a friend, Jerry Gilpin. As well as reading it below, you can hear Jerry read it with an accompanying film created by his son Matthew,
here
‘Gratitude’ focusses on one moment unique to our times, stays with it to observe it closely and dig a little deeper into what is going on alongside what is happening. Finally, the poet opens thing
Posted in Blog Posts, Poetry, Writing for Wellbeing, Writing Prompts
Tagged clap for NHS, Jerry Gilpin, poem, writing for wellbeing
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Journalling Through a Time of Corona 5
As we continue in the lockdown and its dramatic interruption of what was once normal (remember when you could just pop out for a coffee with friends, mooch round the shops or go to the cinema?) we may notice some shifts in perspective around our once familiar life. When things are take away that we might not have chosen let go of, including those we wanted to but never quite got round to, it can leave a dynamic
