Teen Breathe work experience student Chelsea shares her passion for poetry-writing with us
Those words that capture your inner eye. They speak to your heart instead of your mind. In them is this beauty, they hold such a warmth. They pull you from the darkness, or help you realise the light. They are a simple collection of letters that truly, can save lives. I would know… they saved mine. This is not an assignment. This is not a “to-do”. This is not just some stuffy thoughts. This is poetry.
It was earlier this year that, life got a bit crazy. Everyone in my circle seemed to be struggling with something and it was hard to keep my somewhat overwhelming feelings in line. With no one to talk to, my thoughts and emotions were just brewing above me like a cloud, constantly keeping me in a shadow, and to see the sun would feel rare.
But then one day, my sister suggested that I should take my pen to paper and to just let my mind flow. These thoughts didn’t have to make sense and their parameters were an abstract concept.
This form of letting go felt like closure; I could express my most vulnerable, raw emotions whilst masking them between the lines of my words.
I soon developed a habit of feeling most in touch with my thoughts when I ventured outside. Whether on an exhilarating headland with deep, engulfing waves below my dangling feet, or when watching a sunset from my car with the windows down and breeze in my hair. But even simply, from a local park bench where the bird tweeting felt closer. To go outside, I felt in touch with myself, I could take a step back from the busyness, and breathe.
From there, I just wrote. Only a few words, hardly including proper grammar, but somehow because of the way they fell on the page, it made total sense. To be a poet takes no genius. But it does need you to realise that what you’re feeling is not the end. Your outlet no longer has to be the cloud that follows you around, the lingering one you can’t seem to be rid of. With this simple practise, your mind can be cleared, returned to a sense of Zen.
One last note I must add, is that poetry is not something you only visit in the seemingly gloomy times. It allows you to express bountiful happiness, expounding joy, or even genuine observation. Poetry has no limits, neither does it bring with it obligations. It is a way of making words sound melodious. Through this art form, they find a way to both harmonise and balance each other.
So now, I say to you dear reader. Take up your pen, wander outdoors, take in the little things and jot them down. Allow this downtime to blow away those clouds and help you to just… breathe.
Words: Chelsea Ryan
