Day 26: Forcing yourself never works

Trying to pen exactly 1 poem for each day, I got stuck. frustrated. But then an internal window flew open: oh yeah, I'd said "40 poems in 40 days." The memory of choice blew in. Said "Follow your rhythm. Maybe none today, maybe three tomorrow." Ah, yes, Freedom. Joy. Celebration in the lightness of the holding.

Day 25: Permission to take a break

I'm breathing tonight, taking a break and in the permission to take a break, I'm posting. Interesting conundrum... ah, life, we take it in and we let it out. our hopes, our tears, our joys, our fears, all entwined, all divine...

Day 24: The stronger my attachment to my creations

the more rigid the edges, the less fluid the substance, the more cloudy the core.

Day 23: The walls we encounter are quite often of our own making

no doubt useful in our past, it is good, now, to listen to their stories, and help them to change form, so that they can herald creation rather than protect vulnerability.

Day 22: There is joy in letting go

At first I had to shut my eyes when I clicked Share after posting a poem. Soon, I felt a release of tension, a lilt of joy after I'd composed and then released them to be read...or not read. To be commented on...or not. Ever feel anything like this in your world?

Day 21: Relying on "help" can really be a block to creativity

So often during the writing of the poetry blog I kept thinking I needed someone to "give me feedback" or "help me" to write better. And thinking that only made the writing get stuck. When I let go of that, and just sank into the writing, words flowed. Does that ever happen to you? That you get stuck when you're courting "feedback?"

Day 20: It helps to have visitors

So before my blog, I wrote poetry in isolation. Worked and reworked and tried to perfect my words before I showed them to anyone. Knowing people would visit my poems on my blog helped me keep going. For me, creating with the knowledge that others were cheering me on, or at least stopping by my poem pages, was a real gift. Curious how that is for others when you do something creative. Different from a show or a recital, I'm speaking here more about a sense of the presence of supportive others in the "forming of" rather than showing a finished project.

Day 19: People see things in you that you often don’t see in yourself

Yes, this is true for me. For others?

Day 18: So I skipped yesterday

I suppose another learning was to just be with the parts of me that are convinced I have nothing worthwhile to say. I suspect others, too, have these voices inside, and have learned ways to welcome rather than exile them. Would be interested to hear about that.

Day 17: Fatigue may be an ally

Before I entered into the practice, I fought fatigue. Believed it was weakness. Or I gave into it fully, let it flood me. So that I just laid around. It turned out fatigue could be incredibly helpful. Could bring insight and nuance. Sometimes fatigue allowed me to sense into a poem without trying so hard to "figure it out." I know they say being sleep-deprived is unhealthy, but maybe fatigue is different from that, maybe when we cozy up to it without letting it take us over, it is our ally.

Day 16: You can keep in touch through small overtures to others

I like that my practice included some way to connect with others. Before posting poems, I often thought about people I cared about, but felt overwhelmed by the idea of trying to stay in touch. This 40 day practice, because I committed to it publicly and shared the results, allowed me to expand relationships that I valued but hadn't managed to make time for. I also even made new "friends" in the process as others shared my poems with people they cared about. Now I value the idea of a "practice" that somehow links the "Practitioner" to others.

Day 15: No I Won't

Sometimes you just have to shout, “No, I won’t!”

To tap into the abundance that fueled my daily practice, sometimes I just needed to shout “I’m NOT going to do this.” Once I heard that voice and really felt how unable to dive back into the writing that part of me felt, things shifted inside. Space for rebellion itself seemed to lead me toward getting ready to write again. I think this happens in many instances where people feel stuck, trapped and pressured. So partly why I like the commitment to some form of daily practice is it seems focus and enhance the transition from stuck to fluid.