Tag: meaning

The Art of Poetry: Confusion and Clarity

~ Linda Wright

Each day I read at least one poem. It’s become a habit in the past few years. It’s also a quest to understand poetry. Having never taken a poetry class, I have little understanding of what the elements of a poem should be. Rather like art, I know what I like and what does not appeal, but I have little understanding of why. Often the punctuation confuses me, as does the way the lines are broken up. There are poems where only one or two lines will jump out at me as meaningful.

I take a rather random approach to selecting my daily poem, letting it arrive in my email inbox or on a podcast. Some days I even spin the poetry app on my phone. Some of the poems I read leave me feeling rather confused. I assume that those poems did appeal to other readers. Some days a poem leaves me feeling comforted that I am not alone. Then there are days when I am simply in awe of the craft of arranging words in unconventional patterns until they create meaning where before I saw only chaos.

Day 25 (of 31 days of free writing

The Meaning of Life Through Stories and Caregiving

To be continued
~ Linda Wright

In my lifetime I’ve had several identities. Born with a rare blood disorder I had a clear difference from all the other children I knew. It gained me a lot of attention and I took pride in educating others about my disorder. I had a role to play at a very young age and rules I needed to follow. I knew things other people, even adults, did not. I was also a student and a pretty good storyteller. What set me apart from other children was that I knew how to successfully live with blood that did not clot.
It wasn’t until I got my first job that I felt I had another persona. I was a librarian as well as a person with a rare bleeding disorder. I could now help others in both of these roles. Later in my life I was a care-giver for my parents. I didn’t think about my purpose in life until I was no longer employed, no longer a care-giver, and most amazingly no longer a person with a rare bleeding disorder. Even though most would consider that all great news, I felt some perplexity about who I was now.

It was then that I began to consider what makes life worth living. I believe most of us construct meaning with what we do, how we help others, and what stories we tell. Luckily there are still lots of things I can do, others to help, and stories to tell.

Day 15 (of 31 days of free writing)