Poetry and the Imagination

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling
Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven,
And as imagination bodies forth
The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen
Turns them to shapes, and give to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name.

- Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

I just concluded my time of leading a class on poetry and the imagination. In my prep for this class, I have had the freedom of going wherever my heart desires, and that is a lot of fun as the roads into poetry are endless and they diverge many times into branches I wish to follow. There are so many places I want to go with poetry, it was difficult to pick and choose the poems to dive into.

In my intro, I explained why I chose to lead a class on poetry, recognizing that poetry isn't for everyone, and it is okay if you don't like it. In fact, poetry would not be the special thing that it is if it were on the bestseller list and everyone loved it. But still, I will always try to encourage others to explore poetry, and it doesn't have to be a regular daily thing for everyone. In my sharing of poetry, I aim to open the door for others to step into (or out of), if they wish. I will show a glimpse of what is beyond, but I cannot force one to enter. That part is up to each person.

A few little rules I outlined in class:

Rules of Poetry

1. Poetry is meant to be read aloud. There is something in the giving the words the space to mingle in the air and in the hearts of the listeners. And every listener will imagine something slightly different.

2. Poetry is meant to be enjoyed and played with. Even serious poems. The poet has selected words very carefully for a purpose. Your job as the reader is to explore the poem with your own view and life experience to interpret it in your own mind using your imagination.

3. Not everyone will love poetry, and that’s okay. If everyone loved poetry, it would lose something of its quality. The fact that few people really enjoy it, keeps it at a special status. Not trite, or overused, or made dull. It is not a fad - it is not something popular then fading.

4. Poetry requires thought and attention. You have to have a certain mind that likes to mingle with words and dwell in them, and that is not for everyone. It’s a solitary venture sometimes, unless you are reading out loud with others to explore together.

So what about you? Do you like poetry? Would you like to learn more?

Travelogue - Oxford

I bring you now to the place where my heart soars and my feet traverse the same streets and frequent the same pubs as my favourite authors and writers from centuries past. If I had a second home, it would be here. If I picture my dreamiest imaginative, intellectual, mysterious, ancient, learning settings, they are here. 

Oxford, England.

Oxford is a one hour train ride north west from London Paddington Station. Arriving by train into Oxford Station is easy. If you don't have luggage, it is a mile walk into the centre of the city. Usually (almost always), I have luggage, so a quick taxi to the college where we will be staying saves energy for all the Oxford explorations to come. But there have been many times I have pulled that luggage into the city centre.

I will be there again soon, it is a place I always feel a deep draw to, so this is just a preview, from my trip there last year. It is a most frequent visited place for me. In fact, I have been going to Oxford now almost every year (I believe I missed 2 times somewhere in there) for the last 11 years. It is the place I spend most of my time when I travel to the UK. And that is on purpose, of course. There are many reasons why Oxford draws me so keenly. You can search for Oxford here on my blog, and there will be countless posts for you to explore on that subject. It would take a while to read them all, so why write another one?

When you love a place, you find that the more you explore it, the more there is to discover. While I can name all the streets in central Oxford, and tell you about all the colleges, I always learn more when I go each year. While I can tell you some very interesting tales about the Bodleian Library, I have only been inside three times, and there is so much more to learn. There are so many more lectures to go to, authors to meet, books to discover, evensong and orchestra concerts to attend. You get the idea. I suppose this is the same way I view people. While I may know someone pretty well, I love to discover more about that person, going deeper.

Oxford is my place to go deeper. I do not go to be simply entertained, but to engage my intellect and challenge myself with new ideas and books to expand my horizons and see through other's eyes, from ancient to modern days. It is the ideal mixture.

Slowing Down - A Course of Study

I am taking up a course of study to think about what it means to slow down and be intentional with my every action. I don't know if it is just me, but I have the tendency to rush everything, from brushing my teeth, to eating my dinner, to washing the dishes, to drinking my evening tea. I always have that lingering sense of all that I still need to do. In my head is my to-do list of the items stacked up. But that leaves me feeling worried about not getting to everything. 

Instead, I want to foster a slowing down, which goes along with my aim to also live more simply, with a less is more attitude (see my last post).

So, by slowing down, this is what I have in mind:

Right now I am sitting at my kitchen table with a pot of loose leaf tea, some biscuits, and a stack of books. I need to finish some prep work for the poetry class I am leading at church this month. I was gone all morning and into the early afternoon at church for a leadership retreat, and I now feel the list of to-do's in my head. Rather than rush around to do everything on my list and feel very scattered, I am choosing to focus on one thing -- enjoying my tea and biscuits whilst typing up this blog post. Sitting here at the table, sipping the steaming tea, taking a bite of biscuit. Thinking about this current musing I am working on. 

Contrast that with what I might normally do. I would bounce around a lot - maybe dusting, then organizing a shelf, then vacuum, then sit down to read a few pages, but then jump up to go check the laundry, and then grab my laptop to open it for a blog post, but then realize I forgot to grab my laundry so I will grab that, fold it, and put it away. While I get some things done, I am very scattered doing it, and my mind is going in many directions that I find it difficult to focus on the meaningful tasks, like prepping for my poetry class, reading for more than a few minutes, or writing this blog post.

I am slowly learning that we are not meant to be multi-taskers. We do not do our best when we try to do several things at once. But only when we give time and focus to the thing at hand are we able to do our best. It requires more of us, sure. It requires discipline to resist doing a few other things that might only take a few minutes, and yet, I have felt more productive in my life by taking the time needed to one task at a time, than by trying to juggle multiple things all at once.

Another side effect of this slowing down is the enjoyment of it.

I want to taste the rose puerh tea that I am drinking (I bought it from a tea shop in Boulder, CO). It transports me to China, even though I've never been to China. It is a black tea with rose petals and a subtle earthy flavour. I love the earthy taste (as my sister-in-law would say, tastes like dirt) as it reminds me of the scent after the rain falls when the earth has just soaked in the fresh droplets and released the most ancient of scents. If I am not sitting here paying attention to each sip I take, I am missing out on the enjoyment of such a precious time, drinking tea. 

This is just an example, but I want each moment to be like this. Where I notice everything - the sight, the scent, the sound, the experience, and the feeling. I am making it my study. The everyday is my set of books. I need to get reading.

Simplify - Musings on Keeping It Simple

Hello 2020 ~
Are you one who makes resolutions or goals for the new year?

Over the past year or two I have been on a journey - one that embraces the simple and slow. I say it is a journey, because it really never comes to an end. You can make changes to your home and way of living, but it's an ongoing cycle of learning and taking steps to keep things simple. 

As I have progressed on this journey of keeping less stuff and being more simple, I have felt so much joy in being home. I realized how much of a minimalist I am, and how peaceful and calm that makes me. I make simple meals. I enjoy the calm and clean environment, which nourishes my soul. I do not feel overwhelmed by clutter and things that take up all the space in my very limited closet and storage. It also means less to clean, which is a wonderful side effect.

I have learned so much, and I thought I would share just a few things I have learned over time:

Reduce clutter and keep things tidy

As I have sorted through cabinets, drawers, and shelves, I noticed that I had kept things for 15 years and never used them. Or used them once. Why would I keep something, which takes up precious space in my tiny tree house home, that I never use? When you think about it, it does not make any sense. So, if it's not something I use regularly, or doesn't fit my home style, etc. I say goodbye. 

Of course, there will be some things that you don't use regularly, like books. You cannot possibly use all your books regularly, however, my rule with books (and I sort through them regularly) is to ask if I am going to read it again, or will I reference this book again? Much of the time, I will read them again or reference them. Many times, I know I will not, so I remove them from the shelf. It is an easy way for me to determine which books I take over to the library to donate for their book sale. It allows another reader to enjoy something that I will not read again.

Keeping things tidy all the time is my goal. That means less time spent cleaning messes everywhere at the end of the week. When I am done using something, put it away right then. When I am done eating, wash dishes and put them away. When I get home and check the mail, open it all immediately, toss it if junk mail, or address it if needed (don't let a stack grow on the kitchen table). It is pretty simple, actually, and it is the kind of stuff we learned as children (before you get out a new toy, you have to put the one you were using away), but for some reason as adults we forgot?

Less is more

When we think about everything we own (or if we start to go through everything), we realize we truly need way less than we have. When I went though my dishes, for example, I realized there was no possible way that a single person (or even if I was married) could ever use all the cups and plates that I had. It was ridiculous. Cabinets were stocked full with mugs I never used, and even baking dishes piled up that I pondered if I had ever used (I am not a baker, so it might be different for you). I thought about the items I used regularly, and it was very few pieces, so I donated all those extra things that took up so much space. Now, it is refreshing to open a cabinet and see just those lovely pieces that I love to use everyday, and enjoy using. 

For clothing/shoes, I have adapted a mindset of wearing better quality, ethically produced items and not buying any fast fashion anymore. Sure, that means I spend more on anything I buy, but I buy less altogether (I think it has been two months or more since I bought any clothing item), and the clothing/shoes/bags last for years and years, not just one season. I also keep to one colour palate and buy classic items (not trendy), so everything matches everything and no time is wasted trying to put together outfits. My closet is organized and not jammed packed, and I love it. Packing for trips is also so much simpler. 

Do you try to keep things more simple? What have you implemented that was helpful?

Winter Musings for the New Year

Sitting on the cusp of an old year, and the brink of a new decade, the night grew colder and the fireworks seemed louder as the hours wore down. As I settled in for the final time before bed (no staying up to midnight for me, though the fireworks woke me), I reached for my new biography of Dorothy L. Sayers to read (I am enjoying it so much) and a blanket, for the evening was getting colder by the minute. 

A few words scribbled into my journal came to mind as well, with a farewell to 2019, and some poetic words branching outward from an origin resting in awe of the natural elements of the winter months. It always comes unexpectedly, but when the words come in the poetic form, they simply must be written down immediately:

Winter Musings for the New Year

I am watching the glass morph into
an iced lake, growing frosty cold,
as the dampness lingers, it clings to glass,
transforming my view to a different landscape.
Not of branches, leaves, and a rooftop glimpse,
but of swirls, shapes, smokey glazes, softly
shimmering by moonlight: condensation magic.
Everything is cosier from this side of glass,
snug and wrapped in a basket weave grey
blanket and a stack of books. My company
is this rowdy collection of books, each one calling to me - 
open my cover and you will see,
you will read, you will think, you will imagine.
Get yourself out of the way, and receive.

Happy 2020 to you!