Literature is so important to me; I wouldn’t be able to explain how many times
I’ve felt thankful for my ability to read and to have the time to relax,
soaking in line after line of poetic tales. I think having any sort of creative
outlet is crucial for survival. I regularly see a counsellor and she often
mutters paraphrasing’s of quotes from certain psychologists, philosophers and
other academics. Having somewhere I can offload free from judgement and in
confidentiality is another thing I consider to be crucial for my endurance. I
often feel blessed to have the level of support I have, not only from health
professionals, from friends and family too.
In my session
with Louise, my counsellor, yesterday she said, “I’ve asked a lot of questions
today. Do you have any questions for me?” It was unexpected and although each
week I’m greeted by tons of questions from her, she had never asked me this. I
thought back to our previous sessions and mentioned to her that I had rekindled
my love for literature and started regularly posting on a blog so I wondered if
she had any recommendations of poets, novelists or books I could read. She
seemed intrigued and became inquisitive about my writing so we chatted about
this for a while. She then wrote down a list of a few pieces of literature that
she thought I should investigate.
There were two
poems written in the list: The Invitation and Wild Geese. I felt such a sincere
consolation reading these poems, it’s almost as if I acquired a sudden sense of
relief, a sense of fulfilment and a deep desire to merge my mind with the words
I was reading. I wanted to read them weekly. Learn them. Breathe them.
Therefore, of course, it is obligatory I share them too.
The Invitation
is by Oriah Mountain Dreamer and can be found on her website, here. She studied Philosophy and has been counselling
people for over 35 years. She uses techniques such as; spiritual practises,
meditation, yoga and writing. Mary Oliver wrote Wild Geese, a reading of it can be found here and the script here. Mary is an American
best-selling poet; her main influence is one of my favourite poets Edna Vincent
Millay.
If anyone has
any recommendations of other enlightened poets and captivating poetry, please
share them with me.
The best givers are those who give books.
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