Poems and Ponderings

There is so much going on in our lives that we seem to think we don't have time to write, trust me you have time, 10 - 15 minutes a day is all you need. You could get up 10 minutes earlier in the morning, write in the bus, in the train, in your break, after lunch, after dinner, you WILL find time if you WANT to write, trust me. And always, always have a little notebook in your hand/bag, pocket or car. The other day driving to my hardware store, I had a strong sense of my late husband sitting next to me and as I was <talking> to him a few lines for a poem came to mind. I recited it over and over again until I could stop and write it down. Then I kept this little booklet of A6 in my hand, wrote down some more lines with my booklet on the bonnet of my car and  a some more while I was in the hardware store... Looking back it must have looked quite funny, but then again being at the hardware store one could imagine I was writing down my list... lol

When writing as a therapy a person uses both hemispheres of their brain, which enables their experiences to become completely integrated into the mind. Writing has been proven to be an excellent form of stress relief for many people. All you require is a pen and journal, or even a piece of paper and a quiet area where you can explore and write down your thoughts. This makes it one of the most inexpensive forms of therapy, or where it is impossible to get to a therapist due to distance Writing can release the tension in your mind by providing you with self-knowledge and allowing you the chance to heal emotionally. So go and get some paper, make a cup of coffee or tea or hot water, sit comfortably, be sure you won't be interrupted and start writing. Start with something  like: Here I am sitting now and am supposed to write... no idea what I am supposed to write... -continue like this for a minute and two and you will see all the sudden you have finished a few page...

By nature I am a planner, it is very difficult for me to be just in the moment, so this poem is somewhat of a reminder for me to -Just be in the moment- I am getting there.... ;) This poem below is Pantoum Style   Be in the moment Feel the earth Dance barefoot Smell the roses Feel the earth Travel light Smell the roses Leave worries behind Travel light Cycle of ebb and flow Leave worries behind Look into the future Cycle of ebb and flow Dance barefoot Look into the future Be in the moment Pantoum, ©JSZ, Angelique, 2008

Why write?  ...A professor at a Kuwait University, brought together a group of  women.... to write out their psychological and social suffering... They found release in expressing themes of hidden emotion and inner turmoil. No matter where in the world you live, no matter how broken your life seems to be, the message comes through loud and clear: Writing heals. From HA Klauser , With Pen in Hand, Introduction Page xiii "I write because I am alone and move through the world alone. No one will know what has passed through me... I write because there are stories that people have forgotten to tell, because I am a woman trying to stand up in my life... I write out of hurt and how to make hurt okay; how to make myself strong and come home, and it may be the only real home I'll ever have." — Natalie Goldberg ( Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within ) 

A favourite quote of my late mother was, Rising like the Phoenix out of the Ashes. She would  use this quote in order to describe her feeling after a heavy migraine attack. This poem below was written whilst I was in Germany, after leaving South Africa for good or so I thought, and I remember vividly that day, it was the day before my birthday, 17.February 2009, a dark winter's day, the heater trying its best to combat the - 10 degrees outside and my 2 beloved Ridgebacks gently snoring in front of it. I had just sat down and written my daily pages about my experiences in this country of my birth, which had become so strange, leaving me feeling like a foreigner in my own country. Tears were streaming down my face as I wrote, feeling abandoned, rejected, lonely, and in emotional and physical pain. The last sentence and here I quote directly from my journal: ... It is a lonely path and a painful one, but eventually and this I also know, I will emerge like the proverbial Phoen...