Healing Words

This year’s World Poetry Day sees poems as a bridge for peace, unity and cultural expression.

Puppy who can always find a spot of warm sunlight. Photo: Sarah Grosso.

Words are a bridge for healing. To connect us to others and ourselves. To connect us with people we have never met, whose words carry great comfort and wisdom. Glimpses of light in the dark.

Words can bring us outwards - into a warm embrace of common humanity, as we see that our troubles and experiences are shared by others. Words can bring us inwards - as they resonate and evoke a felt sense bringing us home to our bodies. Through poems, we can find greater compassion for others and for ourselves.

Art and poetry feel all the more compelling, as the world is in turmoil around us. It can feel overwhelming and we may lose sight of the webs of support that continue to exist around us, however close or far.

I would like to invite you to tune into compassion and take a few moments to capture what this feels like for you in words.

1. Awaken compassion

Start by taking a moment to sink into your chair, feeling your feet rooted and supported on the ground. Cast your mind back to a time you have felt deep compassion for someone or someone has offered this to you. Even a small drop of compassion is enough. What does it feel like? Which qualities does it have? Where do you sense it in your body? Does it have a colour? A texture? A face?

2. Savour your compassion

Stay with this feeling of compassion for a moment longer. Allow it to linger and land in your system. How does it feel as you hold these sensations and have them humming in your system? Could you make them a little bigger? Like blowing a little more air into a balloon?

3. Capture your compassion in a short poem

You are welcome to capture this feeling of compassion in a short poem.

Allow yourself to write without judgement, whichever words and form feel right to you. A poem can be free verse without any rhythm or rhyme or follow a structure such as a haiku (following a pattern of 3 lines with 5, then 7 , then 5 syllables in each line).

You can keep your poem to visit again, any time you like or you feel the need.

You are welcome to share your poem – or other poems (or song lyrics) you find healing – here. Perhaps your own words can bring joy and comfort to others?

Finally, I wanted to share my own quick haiku on compassion that I am drawn to send out into the world right now:

my heart reaches out

in all directions at once

can you feel my love?

This space is for reflection and connection. Beyond writing, I also offer one-to-one counselling for individuals and couples, and my online group workshop Earth is currently open for enrolment. If you’d like some personal support, you are welcome to reach out to me here.